Stephen Anthony Shaw

A firm doesn't have to become ordinary to be treated as ordinary.

That is the problem I work on.

Buyers cannot always inspect expertise before buying it. They compare what firms say: experience, senior-led teams, tailored advice, proven results. Each may be true. If competitors can say the same, none explains why one should win.

This is how expertise can become commoditised—not because the work has lost its value, but because the difference has disappeared from the decision.

I'm Stephen Shaw, founder of An Artful Science® (2006). I help founder-led consultancies, advisory practices and professional-services firms confront that problem.

I developed the Substitution Margin™ to test how much of a firm's published case for being chosen a competitor can also substantiate. Through the 5° Of Newness™, I help firms establish and preserve differences that survive comparison.

The question isn't whether you're different. It's whether the buyer can tell.