About
Who is Cristan Massey?
A results-driven Technology leader with varied experience transforming & delivering reliable, high performing services across complex, regulated environments. Experienced in leading cross-functional teams through change, strengthening organisational accountability, and aligning technology capability to clear business outcomes. Committed to building resilient teams, improving operational maturity, and delivering sustainable change at scale.
My Story
From the Armed Forces to building technology organisations
My career spans two worlds that look very different: military service and technology leadership. In practice, they're the same discipline applied to different problems; understanding where you actually are before deciding where to go, building teams that can operate under pressure, and being honest about what's working and what isn't.
I took the opportunity when leaving the Armed Forces to join FDM Group, an IT Consultancy that trains Armed Forces professionals in IT and Business. This gave me the way in to an industry I was passionate about.
I currently lead IT Service Management at Pearson, and before that built a full Service Management discipline from scratch at a start up organisation; a piece of work I remain genuinely proud of, not because of the frameworks I put in place, but because of the team that grew around them. I have worked across mulitple high profile programmes of work in the public and private sector acting as the leads of many practices across different IT disciplines.
Happy people create happy outcomes. It's that simple, and I've never seen a genuinely resilient team where it wasn't true.
Principles & Ways of Working
What guides how I lead
People create outcomes
Technology strategy, service design and operating models only work if the people delivering them are capable, trusted and understood. I spend more time understanding people than controlling process.
Psychological safety is not optional
The fastest way to lose a strong team or a strong service is to lose psychological safety. People need to feel able to challenge, question and admit mistakes without fear, or they stop doing it.
Shared responsibility, not silos
Deep expertise matters, and every team needs subject-matter specialists. But outcomes should be owned collectively. Silos and single points of failure are usually where resilience quietly breaks down.
Curiosity over certainty
Humility and curiosity — knowing what you don't know, and caring enough to find out — matter more to me than command-and-control confidence. It's the military value I carry most directly into leadership.
Learning is continual, not an event
Resilient organisations are the ones that keep questioning themselves and keep adapting. That applies to teams and services, and it applies to me — I'm still studying, still qualifying, still learning.
Clarity beats complexity
Good communication is clear and unambiguous. Most operational risk I've seen traces back to unclear ownership, unclear priorities, or unclear communication — not to a lack of process.
Lifelong Learning
Why I keep studying
I don't see qualifications as credentials to collect. I see them as evidence of an ongoing habit — the same habit I try to build in the teams I lead. Working towards ITIL Master status, alongside earlier study such as my Level 5 Operational Manager qualification, isn't about the certificate. It's about staying curious enough to keep testing what I think I already know.
I beleive a culture of learning, both as an indivudal and team is key to success.
Get in touch
If this resonates, I'd like to hear from you
Whether it's a technology leadership opportunity, a conversation about operational resilience, or a speaking enquiry — get in touch here.