Business coach and decision-making consultant · for people building something of their own
Your days are run by urgencies. Not by you.
You run your own project and do almost everything yourself: chasing what's urgent, overthinking the big choices, and by evening the energy is gone before the things that matter got done. Together we put things back in order, pick the priorities, and you start moving with a clear head. I stay close until it happens.
Free, online, and no pushy sales talk: you book, you get the link, we talk.
In Germany since 2014 · international projects at Merck · Decathlon · Bauhaus · IKEA · Essity
Sound familiar?
Maybe this rings a bell.
- Your days are decided by clients and emergencies, not by you.
- You know what you should do, but you don't move.
- Every decision sits on your shoulders. Always.
- You work a lot, and at the end of the day the things that matter are still undone.
- And every now and then, a little voice tells you you're not doing enough.
The problem is not discipline. It's that you decide everything on your own. You have the willpower, and the ideas too. What's missing is a way to choose with a criterion, based on facts, and someone to actually think with. Friends agree with you, family worries about you, and you stay right where you were.
I'm a scientist on loan to operations: a PhD in chemistry and more than ten years keeping large European companies running. Today I put that method at the service of solo professionals and small businesses: the structure and the KPIs used to steer projects in those companies, inside yours.
How it works
The 5D Method. One criterion: yours.
No pros-and-cons lists: five questions in a row, and one concrete tool for every step, like the 72-hour test, the two-way door and the pre-mortem. A method built over more than ten years of real decisions, to turn doubt into the instrument that guides you.
What is true, before the opinions: real numbers, dates, constraints. A few honest lines on a page, as long as they are true.
Where you want to get to, based on your values, not on someone else's expectations. A crossroads is judged by the destination, not by the two roads.
The right choice doesn't exist: what exists is your choice, with your name on it. You need a criterion defined beforehand, with a date next to it.
The choice becomes movement: concrete steps and a calendar. A decision without a date is just a good intention.
The engine of everything: what you want, net of what you should want. Without it, every plan folds at the first bad week.
Each D comes with its own tools, straight from the field: the 72-hour test for the doubt, the values compass for the direction, the two-way door and the pre-mortem for the decision, if-then plans for the destination, the coin that doesn't decide for the desire. Together they form one loop that fits any crossroads: a job to keep or leave, a project to launch or close, a road to take or let go.
Want to feel the method on your own crossroads? Take the free Stay-or-Leave Test: ten questions, no email asked.
What we do together
Decision Lab.
Decision Lab is the three-month, one-on-one decision-making program: a steady partner at your side, deciding on your real numbers and moving forward every week.
- We put order into the numbers and the choices that block you today.
- You get a method and a structure to decide, built on your real data.
- I stay close every week, until things start moving.
Who you'd be working with
I've been at that crossroads too.
Manager, father of two, and someone who has faced more than a few crossroads, and taken even more decisions. Here is the whole story, year by year: because a decision partner should show you his own decisions first.
A life is made of the decisions you take. You might as well learn to take them well.
In beautiful Bari, in the south of Italy. That's where I start from.
Master's degree in Materials Engineering, 110 cum laude. I'm proud of that one: in high school I used to flunk math.
I arrive in Germany by car, a Kia Picanto loaded up to the roof, to finish a PhD in chemistry. Six months in, I already wanted to escape to China.
I start part-time in a Decathlon warehouse. And I decide to keep walking this road, instead of turning back.
I get my PhD in chemistry. And I make a difficult choice: to start over with a career built on concrete results and leadership, guiding people and projects. Meanwhile, I keep going at Decathlon.
Late 2022. Becoming a father suddenly changes the way you look at time, priorities, and what actually counts.
That choice pays off: I pass the six-figure salary mark, working at IKEA. The career built on results and leadership takes shape.
End of 2025: I found my services company, specialized in decision-making, and take the project online. In the same months my daughter is born: two kids, and a life that asks you to hold many things together.
A scientist on loan to operations: I manage 8 logistics centers across DACH and Benelux for Essity, and alongside that I'm the decision partner of people building something of their own.
What clients say
Real words, from real people.
Translated from the Italian originals, which are public and verifiable on LinkedIn and Google. No private messages, only testimonials you can check.
"Lately I felt like nothing in my head was in order: tangled thoughts, ideas popping up like rabbits out of a magician's hat, lots of intuitions but no clear direction. Then came the conversation with Donato, where word after word something started to loosen, with the right questions asked in the right way. Almost without noticing, the blocks I was putting on myself came out, stopped being a weight and started turning into direction. In so little time he gave me back something I had lost: the enthusiasm to walk my own path."
"We took what was good in my project and put it into a structured system. The result: on the very first call, the package sold at twice the usual price. But what I really want to point out is something else: he showed me there was value behind what we were doing. I couldn't see it before, so I couldn't convey it to potential clients. He believed in the project before I did, and that is what makes the difference: someone at your side who doesn't just follow you, but sees and believes in what you do, as if the project were his own."
"A get-to-know call that was supposed to last 60 minutes turned into a two-hour conversation. He has a rare capacity for listening and presence. Grab the chance to book a call with him: I promise you'll come out of it different, and, just as important, you'll be smiling afterwards. Which is not a given these days."
"Donato was very good at creating a climate of listening and making me think with precise, deep questions. He helped me look at my situation from a more strategic perspective, bringing out concrete input on focus, priorities and next steps. A genuinely useful, stimulating, well-run call."
"When I started working with him I felt stuck, confused, with little direction. He didn't hand me ready-made answers: he asked me the right questions. What struck me most is the way he listens: attentive, deep, never superficial. If you're a professional or a manager facing important choices, talking things through with Donato can truly make the difference."
"As a freelancer I manage everything alone and often lose direction. I met Donato in a difficult period, where I want to grow but struggle with inner blocks. With him I felt I could open up honestly about how I feel, and above all that I had found someone prepared, who can seriously see where I don't and help me move forward."
The book
Stay or Leave?
The 5D Method in book form: real stories, science translated into normal words, and one tool per chapter, from the 72-hour test to the coin that doesn't decide. You come in with a doubt that keeps you up at night. You walk out with a decision with your name on it.
It comes out in August 2026 in Italian, as "Resto o Vado?", and in September 2026 in English. You can already reserve your copy: one form covers both editions, you pick your language there.
Start here, for free
Stay or leave? Find out which D you're missing.
One honest conversation
Let's look at your crossroads together.
30 minutes, free, over a virtual coffee. No pushy sales talk: you book, you get the link, we talk. Sessions in English, Italian or German.
Or write to me: me@donatodetullio.com
I stopped asking for email addresses in exchange for resources: the test is yours, the result too, no contact details required. If this page helped, the full site lives in Italian at donatodetullio.com, and I'm always one coffee away.