How I work

Your team's ecosystem is made up of the interconnected areas of process, engagement, and talent. If you have a process problem, it's likely damaging team engagement. If you have an engagement problem, you risk losing your best talent. If your talent doesn't feel valued, what motivates them to improve your processes or stay engaged?

My goal is to help you build a healthier ecosystem so that your team is happier, more productive, and more innovative.

In a longer engagement, I would expect to:

collaborate with your internal experts to understand and address core issues
respect the unique nature of your team and the processes that are already working well
suggest small changes that provide immediate value, building goodwill and momentum
solicit and coordinate feedback about your organization's values and challenges
facilitate leadership workshops that support leaders and their teams
document and address process indignities
design tools and workflows that promote networks and communities
collaborate in planning talent development pathways to retain your best staff

Can I get a free consultation?

Absolutely! If you are wondering if my services are a good fit for your needs, please email me and we can set up a call or video chat to discuss. I also offer personal consulting at an hourly rate if you are looking for alternative perspectives on a specific problem.

This sounds warm and fuzzy - happiness, blah blah - but why is contracting with you worth my money?

For Executives:

Turnover is expensive. Poorly run projects are expensive. Chronic customer dissatisfaction is expensive. Failing to surface issues before they reach production is expensive. My program improves engagement, communication, morale, and retention. We are deputizing your staff in the effort to keep your goals on track. My experience makes it more likely that your project will be a success, and allows you to reach the finish line faster, ultimately saving you money.

For Managers:

We will co-create tools and systems to keep track of everything your team is working on, while simultaneously making your team more independent and taking some work off your plate. I offer leadership workshops to build your confidence and help you support your team. Contracting with me also gives you access to one-on-one consulting: bring me your thorniest problems, and I will offer you solutions that I've already tested in the real world.

For Staff:

Your job is hard. Burnout is on the rise, and how you work is just as important as how much you work. My program encourages supportive leadership strategies and builds your network of internal experts, making it easier and faster to get the answers you need. I also have tech tips and skill-building classes that have the potential to shave a few minutes off of every day, or even every meeting, while reducing your stress. Ultimately, my goal is to help build an environment that is worthy of your best work.

How do your services work? Can I just pick from the menu?

Not exactly. I care about your team's success, and I'm committed to creating contracts that maximize value and mitigate risk. This means that I might suggest starting with different services depending on the systems you already have and your team's level of engagement. We will work together during assessment and contracting to determine the best starting point.

Think about it this way - if we upskill individual staff, but their work environment is mediocre and engagement is low, they will take their new skills and leave. If the work environment is good, or if we improve the work environment before we start upskilling, the organization is much more likely to retain that talent and recoup the investment.

And you do Epic Staffing?

No, I want to help you to develop the team you already have, rather than supplementing that team with myself. If you need an extra set of hands, I can recommend some great staff augmentation firms that hire top-tier talent.

With that said - I do have several Epic certifications and deep knowledge of the industry - that's how I got here. Check out my 2023 XGM presentation on Workflow Engine Rules to get a sense of my experience and personality.

Are you willing to travel to meet my team onsite?

Yes, infrequently. Travelling interferes with my ability to support other clients and with my personal responsibilities. I charge a substantial weekly fee for onsite time.

Do you use AI? Will you recommend that we use AI? Everything is AI now.

Predictive AI is really cool, but let's assume we're talking generative.

Personally, I find that using AI interferes with my creative thought processes. The act of creating business content is an opportunity to think critically and generate new insights about your approach to the problem: Is this the right problem to solve? Am I the right person to solve it? Is this the most efficient solution? Have I considered this from all the right angles? AI, for me, short-circuits that process and encourages me to skip some of those critical first questions.

Professionally, Responsible Monsters is built on a people-first premise: it's about designing environments that keep people engaged, building teams that support each other, and ultimately promoting human innovation. When I recommend AI, it's to assist people who have domain knowledge and professional skills, and need a little extra help (dictation tools, AI editing) to make sense of the information they already have in their heads.

When AI becomes reliably good at the things that are too rote and repetitive to be worth a human's time, I will recommend it for that.

Why "Responsible Monsters"?

Because I believe in the value of strategic destruction. Because one of my family names is a monster on "Sesame Street". Because it provides ample opportunity for adorable branding. Because it's my company, and I like the name.