Michael ONG
Agile, Product & Organisational Development Coach
Working with teams, leaders and organisations across Southeast Asia to grow clarity, capability and confidence.

Hi, I’m Michael — and I help teams learn together.

For the past 25 years, I’ve been moving between tech, UX, product leadership and organisational development across Singapore, Southeast Asia, Australia, Africa and Europe. What that journey taught me is simple:

Teams don’t learn because we give them a model — they learn when we create the space for it.

My work focuses on helping teams build alignment, psychological safety and adaptive ways of working from the ground up. I blend Agile, systems thinking, UX, product strategy, Satir, Gestalt, and experiential learning into coaching that is practical, relational and deeply human.

I’ve coached and trained over 2,000 professionals and worked with organisations across the Singapore public sector — Synapxe, MOE, STB, SkillsFuture — along with teams across Southeast Asia and beyond.

These days, I’m deepening my work through iGOLD (Gestalt) and continuing to integrate body–mind practices, use-of-self, and systemic awareness into leadership development.

What I believe

  • Learning is relational. People grow when they feel safe, seen and supported.
  • Leadership starts with self-awareness. Every conversation, every decision, every interaction shifts the field.
  • Small experiments change culture. Not slides, not mandates — real practice in real work.
  • Play matters. Serious play (like Cowtopia) helps teams see themselves clearly and work with complexity without fear.

How I work with teams

People often describe my sessions as structured enough to feel safe, spacious enough for real conversation, and intentional enough to create movement.

My coaching usually involves:

  • Creating clarity and shared purpose
  • Strengthening communication and influence
  • Navigating resistance with Satir’s compassion and curiosity
  • Using visual management and iteration to make progress visible
  • Helping teams reflect, reset and realign
  • Blending experiential learning, Theory U, Circle Way, SPT and Agile delivery practices

I work with product teams, leadership groups, first-line managers, and cross-functional teams who need to collaborate better across boundaries.

What I’m known for

“Michael creates a space where learning actually lands.”
— Many, many testimonials across Southeast Asia

From the 2025 testimonials collection, people most often describe my work as:

  • Transformative but grounded — learning you can apply immediately
  • Structured, thoughtful and intentional — designed, not improvised
  • Safe and expansive — people share honestly and grow quickly
  • Human-first — balancing results and relationships
  • Playful yet serious — using games and lived experience to unlock insight

Areas I can support

Leadership & Team Coaching

Building leadership capability, reflective practice, self-awareness, coaching presence, psychological safety, team effectiveness.

Product Thinking & UX

Product strategy, roadmap design, user research, prioritisation, cross-functional alignment, product leadership.

Agile & Systems Change

Agile coaching (team/product/enterprise), systems thinking, organisational learning, Open Space, conflict navigation.

Experiential Learning & Serious Play

Learning design, Cowtopia, embodied learning (SPT), Circle Way, Satir, Gestalt.

Clients & Communities

I’ve been fortunate to work with public sector agencies, banks, insurers, technology organisations, media companies and product teams across the region — from Singapore to Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, Bangkok, Perth and beyond.

I’m also a long-time community builder:
Product Tonic, UX Singapore, Product Beer, Satir Circle, Social Presencing Theater SG, and a whole ecosystem of meetups and learning spaces that have shaped the region’s product community since 2013.

If we work together…

You’ll find that I don’t arrive with a fixed answer.
I arrive with questions, curiosity, a listening ear, and an invitation to explore together.

Because real change happens when people feel safe enough to try, honest enough to reflect, and brave enough to take the next step.

If that’s the journey your team wants to go on, I’m here to walk it with you.