By David Wilson
He classes himself as a futurist, consultant, social entrepreneur and "rampant raconteur". Certainly, Brisbane-based William Stubbs seems game to riff a bit on any topic, including his age. Stubbs, who turns 30 on August 5, says he has the heart of a 12-year-old.
Throughout his life, it seems, he has had a talent for systems thinking. Now, he says, one reason he and his business partner, Lee Crockford, click is complementary brains.
William Stubbs believes in systems thinking.Credit: Nicholas Sterkenburg
"He's the creative genius, the ideation magician who comes up with these brilliant concepts out of – I have no idea where. Typically, I'm the guy who looks at that and sees how things fit together, but also how they fit into the whole," he says.
Systems thinking means seeing the big picture, he says, adding that the skill has proven valuable, despite doubt in some quarters. He mentions how his occupational therapist mother used to fret about the time he spent staring at things – trails of ants in the garden, for instance.
"I think I just really like figuring out how things work as a system," he says.
Nothing operates in exclusion, he says, and highlights the importance of being able to rally others.
His early career phase centred on sales showed that he had a knack for winning people over. Now, at events where he faces potential social-impact project partners, he is good at persuading them to join a cause. "I have no idea why. It's probably the beard." Or it might be that he did drama and debating all through school. "But I do know that I can, when given a platform, inspire people." That ability is crucial because, among other factors, the tumultuous political landscape makes it easy to be disheartened, even quit.
"Part of what I love about what I do is reaching people and prodding them into action – to believe that they can enact change," he says.
Regarding the hours that he works in his efforts to spur change, he says: "Ha! I have no idea. It entirely depends on the work, but I tend to find I'm a workaholic and that's easy to be when you know your work affects people's lives." Not long ago, he began burning out and sought advice from his father who counselled him to take Sundays off, which he does.
He earns less than a banker but more than when he worked as a teenage Coles checkout assistant. His consulting day rate is $1200, depending on whether the client is not-for-profit or corporate.
Originally, Stubbs, whose father was a software entrepreneur, aimed to be a fossil expert or bestselling novelist. "I'd always wanted to write fiction novels and have probably written more than half a dozen complete books over the years, but never did anything with them."
On how he entered his field, the former University of Queensland undergraduate says: "That is itself a strange story. I was kicked out of uni after two years for failing to attend enough classes, though I love pointing out that I was invited back 10 years later to speak at their Young Alumni conference."
Several office jobs followed before the global financial crisis hit. Out of a job, he bummed around, hiking and figuring himself out. Next, he landed a tech support job with a psychometric software firm. Soon after, he took on some demanding, complicated marketing roles before shifting into product management.
The same year, 2011, he was introduced to a friend-of-a-friend who wanted to found a non-profit that combated male suicide – the number one killer of men aged between 14 and 44, through behavioural change campaigns.
Co-founding the organisation, Spur Projects (www.spurprojects.org), Stubbs became the poster boy of the first campaign, because he grew up in a destructive social circle and was suicidal himself.
Still a driving force behind Spur, he has been G20 Young Entrepreneur Delegate and Digital Brisbane Ambassador, among other honours. He finds time to mentor startups and social enterprises including the Indigenous business accelerator Barayamal.
In some ways, he still regrets being too arrogant and undisciplined to finish his college degree, he says. "In other ways," the futurist says, "the path I've taken has been unexpected, surprising and beyond rewarding."