Would you like more ease in your work? Or simplify how you manage your product development?
Do you have any of these challenges?
- Decisions take too long. Or, people feel as if they have to jump through too many hoops to finish the work. As a result, people tell you, “It's too hard to work here,” or leave. Worse, they stay and do just the required minimum.
- Everyone is swamped with work. They try to do “more,” but end up doing much less. Multitasking is killing all your forward momentum.
- You need more effective project and program management so customers receive products they love when they want them.
- While you suspect (or know) the agile and lean principles work, somehow, those principles are not practical for all levels of your organization. And a team-based “transformation” does not stick.
Don't allow your goals to slip through your fingers. I can help.
I offer frank and practical advice that you can immediately apply to your product development challenges.
We start with your current reality. Because if you don't know where you are, you can't chart a path to where you want to go. Then, we explore your options for what and how to change to achieve your business outcomes. The results? Leaders and teams learn to collaborate and focus on outcomes that matter.
You can use agile and lean principles at all levels of the organization. Not because they're “Agile,” whatever that means, but because shorter feedback loops focused on the whole deliver better business results.
My consulting is informed by theory and based on my experience and reality. Want to see my philosophy in action? Read the Pragmatic Manager newsletter. Or, take a look at my books.
My work is practical, experience-based, and human-centered. That's why you can adapt these ideas to your context.
How We Might Work Together
We craft an engagement that fits your needs, starting with a conversation. What signals do you see? What outcomes do you want?
We capitalize on your unique strengths and explore your reasonable alternatives. Armed with that knowledge, you can decide how to adapt your current practices.
I offer many consulting services. Lately, I've worked more with leaders and managers as a Trusted Advisor. That allows us to explore many alternatives on your schedule, without needing specific outcomes.
I offer customized consulting and workshops based on my books for all aspects of product development.
My services span effective management, product development, and personal development.
More Effective Management
Most managers want to be more effective. My Modern Management Made Easy books can support your management journey, regardless of where you start. I also offer Modern Management Made Easy workshops.
Managers create the environment for others to be effective. That's why I offer seven principles, so you can work on each principle, on its own or all together.
Read Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management and see excellent management in action.
Have you ever seen a talented manager? Possibly not. This book helps you see how great managers work.
Learn how to stop multitasking and start finishing. As a result, you'll increase your capacity and make money faster. Read Manage Your Project Portfolio: Increase Your Capacity and Finish More Projects.
The secret? Assign one project to a team at one time. Not more projects and not to slices of people. You can do it all—but not at the same time. Your choices matter.
Read Hiring Geeks That Fit to see how to offer people an opportunity, and create cultural fit.
Hire the right people fast and learn to integrate them into the existing team. No, you do not need coding tests. (Those have never offered much value. Now, in an era where AI can scrape the web for code, they offer zero value.)
More Effective Ways to Develop Products: Project and Program Management
Learn how to deliver the products your customers need and want. All of my books help you see your feedback loops. The shorter the feedback loop, the more agility you can capitalize on.
I've got you covered for all kinds of project management, assuming you like deliverables. My bestselling books and workshops have supported project and program managers for years.
The essence of agility is short feedback loops. Release better products faster with Project Lifecycles: How to Reduce Risks, Release Successful Products, and Increase Agility, Create Your Successful Agile Project, and From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams.
Some teams and organizations are not yet ready for agile approaches. My award-winning book, Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management supports all teams and helps them see where they might use agile and lean principles for better results.
If you have multiple projects that contribute to one business outcome, you've got a program. Don't fall for frameworks. They rarely work because they are one size fits all. Instead, recognize your risks and use Agile and Lean Program Management: Scaling Collaboration Across the Organization to see what makes sense for your context.
All of these books will help you learn to see and manage your risks to deliver value.
Increase Your Personal Effectiveness
If you want to write better and faster, check out Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer and the Free Your Inner Writer workshop. Or, check out the Write a Conference Proposal book along with its self-study workshop.
Thinking of becoming a consultant? That's Successful Independent Consulting with its own workshops. (Still in development.) Or, maybe you'd like a new job. Read Manage Your Job Search.
Want to talk? Book a Meeting With Me.
The Socials
Look for my name everywhere. And since social media is so—ahem—interesting lately, here are the various links:
My Link.tree