January 19, 2026

Why your business needs a health check before it tries
to run a global marathon

By Jauhari Che Wan

Walk through the City or Canary Wharf on a Tuesday morning, and you get a sense of frantic, purposeful energy. Deals are being struck, code is being shipped, and the gears of London’s economy are turning. But step inside the boardrooms of many of these organizations, and a different reality often emerges.

For all the talk of "digital transformation" and "global Britain," many companies are trying to run a marathon with a sprained ankle. They are ambitious, certainly. But they are not fit.

In my eight years helping giants like Maybank and Petronas navigate complex transformations, I’ve noticed a recurring pattern. Organizations love to buy new running shoes—the latest AI tools, the expensive SaaS platforms, the glossy rebrands. But they rarely stop to check their own pulse. They layer speed on top of friction, and then wonder why they burn out before the finish line.

This is why, at Falah Consultancy, we have stripped our advisory process down to a single, critical starting point: The Strategic Health Check.

The Silent Killer of Strategy

The problem isn’t usually a lack of ideas; it’s a lack of alignment. We see CEOs who have a vision of entering the new CPTPP markets—taking advantage of reduced tariffs in Malaysia or Canada—while their operational teams are still drowning in technical debt and legacy workflows.

The strategy says "Global Agility," but the reality says "Four weeks to approve a budget change."

We developed our integrated self-assessment to act as an MRI for the modern business. It asks the uncomfortable questions that polite consultants usually avoid until the third month of billing.

Are your teams actually agile, or are they just doing "Zombie Scrum"—going through the motions of stand-ups without ever delivering value? Is your supply chain flexible enough to handle the Rules of Origin requirements for new trade blocs, or is it rigid and fragile?

Bridging the Gap: Policy Meets Code

My background is an unusual mix of Political Science and Information Technology. In the past, these were separate worlds. The policy experts sat in one tower, and the coders sat in another. Today, that separation is a death sentence.

To succeed in the current UK economy, you need to understand the macro-political landscape—like the nuances of the CPTPP agreement—and you need the digital agility to pivot your operations to match it.

If you don't know where you stand on that spectrum, you are flying blind.

The Cost of Illusion

The most dangerous number in business isn't a financial loss; it's a false positive. It’s the belief that because everyone is busy, progress is being made.

Our assessment is designed to pierce that illusion. It looks at three pillars:

1. Operational Muscle: Can you ship product fast?

2. Market Readiness: Can you handle the complexity of new trade borders?

3. Strategic Clarity: Does your leadership actually agree on where the bus is driving?

We decided to make this initial diagnostic free because I believe the UK market is at a pivot point. We have massive opportunities opening up in the Indo-Pacific and the digital sector. But opportunities are only useful to those who are ready to seize them.

Don't Wait for the Crisis

In medicine, we know that preventative screenings save lives. In business, however, we tend to wait for the heart attack—a failed product launch, a regulatory fine, or a competitor eating our market share—before we call the doctor.

Don't wait for the crisis. Take a look under the hood now. It takes five minutes to assess your readiness, but it could save you five years of running in the wrong direction.

Jauhari Che Wan is the Principal Consultant and Founder of Falah Consultancy Limited, based in St. James’s, London. He specializes in scaling agile frameworks and strategic business transformation.

Take the Strategic Health Check Now