A life devoted to creative excellence

I’m an Englishman living in Venice, California.

I was born in Reading, England and moved to LA a decade ago. For some inexplicable reason Americans love to call me Max.

I have two professional goals.

To create things of enduring value with people I love.
To help and inspire others to do the same.

These ambitions have underpinned all the projects I’ve undertaken, from the books I’ve written and client engagements I’ve worked on, to the keynote speeches I’ve given and the airstream restoration I’m midway through.

My best work has always been on projects I find inherently interesting, meaningful, challenging and rewarding, where I have been able to pursue high quality standards.

When you love what you do, you always want to get better at it, you don’t cut corners, and you lavish attention on the details. That’s how you create things of enduring value, and that’s what I want to do.

I am committed to creative excellence.

I’ve applied the same work ethic, philosophy and structured approach to seven creative disciplines to date: entrepreneurship, design, writing, speaking, music, photography, and motorcycle building.

Along the way, with the guidance of expert coaches, I have learned that there are universal principles and processes available to anyone, working in any field, that can dramatically improve their performance and propel them down the path to mastery.

Consistent, repeatable excellence is not an accident, or a genetic lottery ticket. It is the by-product of a process that we can all follow. It is available to anyone who can approach the right things in the right ways.

Alongside elite performers like General Stanley McChrystal, Isle of Man TT winner James Hillier, big wave surfer João De Macedo, Navy Seal James Henderson, and Olympic athletes Anita Nall Richesson and Laura Weightman I was interviewed about my working practice on the Accelerating Excellence Podcast.

Music

I performed Tschaikovsky’s 1st Piano Concerto when I was eighteen, receiving a standing ovation. After a twenty-five year hiatus I have recently started playing again.

Photography

I began working as a professional photographer when I was twenty-three, becoming the first new photographer hired by Top Gear from over two hundred portfolio submissions. Over the next three years I shot editorial work across the globe for the most prestigious car magazine in the world before I quit to focus on my design career. Landscape photography is still a major passion.

Design

For eight years in a row I was awarded every UX design contract I pitched for except one. My work for brands like Adobe, Vodafone, Land Rover, and P&O won awards for usability and commercial performance, and I was granted membership of the Royal Chartered Society of Designers when I was twenty-five.

Writing

I wrote my first book when I was twenty eight. It won the grand prize and innovation category awards at Management Book of the Year. I have since been twice published by Penguin Random House and my books have been translated into multiple languages.

Speaking

Since the publication of my first book I have been invited to speak by every kind of organization imaginable from Microsoft to the FBI. I have been the top rated speaker at events for Salesforce, American Express and Syzygy among others.

Entrepreneurship

In 2017 I co-founded the design agency Methodical with my best mate Ben. Starting from scratch in a foreign country, the business has been profitable from day one, generates seven figures in revenue and our first client is still with us almost a decade later.

Motorcycle building

My first custom motorcycle — a BMW Airhead Cafe Racer — was featured on Bike Exif, the world’s biggest custom motorcycle website. Since then I have restored or built a further four motorcycles, two of which are on loan to Dainese for their Los Angeles showroom.