Operator and buyer
Army procurement, workshop operations and asset responsibility, followed by managing asset and fleet budgets and lifecycles inside government, created an early view of how work, suppliers, systems and decisions connect.
About Rick van Driel
Commercial problems look different when you have sat on both sides of the decision.
For more than 35 years, Rick's work has crossed operations, buying, consulting, enterprise sales, market development, leadership, software and applied AI. The value is not the list. It is the ability to follow a commercial problem across the people, process, systems and decisions that shape the outcome.
TEAMSolutions brings those perspectives together to help organisations understand what is happening, make a sound decision and turn it into work people can actually perform.
The career is not a straight sales story.
It is a progression through the systems, people and decisions that sit behind commercial outcomes.
Consultant and commercial practitioner
Enterprise systems, professional services, strategic accounts and customer rescue made commercial promises inseparable from operational reality.
Market builder and leader
Roles across Australia and APAC covered new markets, partner businesses, sales teams, solution engineering and complex regulated industries.
Author, adviser and builder
Decision Confidence, the book, Symphony, GNR8 and Phoenix turn long-observed patterns into methods and working products.
Experience that travels across the commercial system.
Work has spanned enterprise asset management, ERP, field service, finance transformation, infrastructure analytics and investment planning across utilities, defence, government, manufacturing and other complex environments.
The consistent role has been helping people understand a difficult problem, connect technical possibility to commercial value and build enough confidence to act.
Enterprise experience
Pinnacle, GraysOnline, TechnologyOne, IBM, Yotta, ABB, PowerPlan, IFS and BlackLine, plus leadership in partner and market-building businesses.
Industry communication
More than 100 conference and exhibition presentations across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the UK and the US.
Commercial thinking
The Art of Selling in the Age of Buyer Complexity and the Decision Confidence framework connect stakeholder alignment, value and buyer action.
Applied building
Symphony, GNR8 and Phoenix test the thinking in working software across enterprise selling, business growth and consequential human decisions.
Organisations and environments
Experience with the people selling complex change and the organisations responsible for buying it.
The work spans small businesses, national companies, major institutions and more than 200 local and state government organisations. It includes commercial selling, consulting, operations, procurement and the internal work required to bring a buying community together.
Government and defence
Australian Federal Police, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Department of Defence, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Royal Australian Air Force, Army, Navy and government organisations across local, state and federal settings.
Utilities, resources and infrastructure
Power, water and gas utilities across Australia and Asia Pacific, including Sydney Water, Melbourne Water, ActewAGL and MainPower New Zealand, plus mining and resources organisations such as HRL.
Transport, venues and major projects
Qantas, Telstra, the Gabba, the MCG, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Perth Theatre Trust, Multiplex and work connected with Stadium Australia for the 2000 Olympics.
Consumer, hospitality, education and industry
Warner Bros. theme parks, Sea World, Movie World, Peppers, Myer, Grace Bros, Deakin University, National Foods and industrial manufacturing environments.
Why that breadth matters
Selling better and buying better are connected problems. Sellers need to understand how different industries evaluate risk and build support. Buyers need practical ways to align stakeholders, frame requirements, test value and procure with greater confidence.
The common thread
Context before prescription.
A seller, buyer, operator and executive can look at the same situation and see different risks. Good advisory work makes those perspectives visible before it proposes an answer.
The aim is not to impose more process. It is to create enough shared understanding for people to make a better decision, act on it and measure whether it worked.
Start with the problem that does not fit neatly into one box.
That is usually where the breadth of experience becomes most useful.
Use the Diagnostic to locate the constraint, bring a live opportunity to the Deal Clinic, or start with Commercial Advisory when the problem crosses the wider organisation.