Have some questions?
These questions just keep popping up, so I figured I'd share them with everyone.
If you have a question that isn't covered here, please contact me and I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.
Is it just you or do you work with others?
Grow... and grow, we shall. With the backlog and demand we're seeing right now, we expect to grow to between 16-20 employees before the end of the year. Companies are simply getting tired of their transformation efforts stalling, stagnating, or over-promising and under-delivering. We refuse to let those things happen. As a founder, I just won't have it!
How long have you been consulting?
I've been consulting since leaving the military and federal government around in 2007. However, my time in the military was spend pioneering automated end-point vulnerability detection, managing strategic projects, then red cell work with the Agency, so that's about 22 years of relevant work experience.
What do you mean “Let’s Talk Amazing”?
Let’s Talk is a campaign to get people excited about breathing new life and ideas into Transformation projects and strategy. I want a company to tell me about some kind of amazing aspiration they have, and figure out how we can make them more successful using a Synthetic Method rather than something off the shelf. Let’s Talk is about people coming to the table willing and excited to talk about solving problems differently.
What is a Synthetic Method?
Something that is synthesized is something that is created from one or more things. To that end, a Synthetic Method is a way of doing things that is created from other methods and inputs - as many as are necessary - to solve the kinds of problems your business needs to solve. What I’m bringing to the table isn’t a new canned methodology or framework. Synthetic Methods is the empirical approach any organization can use to synthesize their own fabric of method and framework expectations composed from any and all inputs. Need Agile? Okay... how and where? Need risk and opportunity management? We have a body of knowledge for that! Amp up pipeline, cross-selling, and annual recurring revenue? Yes - Synthetic Methods can get you there. Nothing is off limits to a Synthetic Method. Therefore, there are no theoretical limits to how efficient or effective a Synthetic Method can become. In contrast, off the shelf frameworks and models are bound by the innovative pace of their creators.
How does this differ from something like Scrum?
Just as you see components of Scrum in Scaled Agile Framework or SAFe, you may very well see components of Scrum in many Synthetic Methods. The difference is presumption of applicability. The balanced nature of the 3 Core Principles of Synthetic Methods literally prevents us from allowing an assumption alone to be the basis for including any or all of a framework in our Synthetic Method. Many adopters of Scrum don’t realize that they’re trying to use Scrum in a way for which it was not designed. Using Scrum isn’t the problem... it is the way it is being used. Synthetic Methods are needs-based, and the approach to their synthesis assumes nothing about the composition of the end result. Certain components of Scrum almost always have a healthy and well-deserved place in the synthesized methods of most software development operations. We just can’t assume that all components have a place. The people who tell you otherwise, or have overly-invested themselves and their business in Scrum are infuenced by biases to perpetuate the exclusive use of Scrum. You deserve an empirical process - the empirical process of determining what is and isn’t needed is the essence of Synthetic Methods.
How does this differ from SAFe?
About 5 or 6 years ago someone realized that Scrum is free to everyone. The Scrum Guide can be downloaded for free by anyone with an internet connection. The Scrum Guide is a mere 16 pages of fairly simple expectations. SAFe© is simply an attempt to put a big box around a product that can be repeatedly sold - via proprietary training and certifications, and 3rd party professional services - to capitalize on the vast market share of inadequate or inappropriate Scrum implementations. The simplicity of Scrum has always been its shortcoming, and SAFe seeks to exploit that. In a frustrating paradox, using SAFe in many instances makes the problem of inappropriate framework use worse, not better. To make matters worse, SAFe only recognizes certain other frameworks as viable for inclusion in the SAFe model. This creates a problem for companies and teams who just want a solution that works. You deserve access to the universe of all possible options to solve your problem. Synthetic Methods recognizes all inputs and all frameworks because the identification of an approach is empirical and needs-based with your needs being first.
So... SAFe tried to capitalize on ambiguity. Isn’t that what you are doing?
Now THAT’S a great question! I believe all approaches which seek to address transformation and the sustainment of capabilities are well-intended. I think it is simply a matter of what means MORE... allowing the creators of a methodology or framework to maximize their profits at your expense, or maximizing your capability to engineer products using whatever means necessary? Synthetic Methods offers the latter exclusively and above all other things. Why should you, as a consumer with broad and diverse product development needs, be confined to a single, for-profit framework at the expense of your Team’s performance and maturity? Synthetic Methods offers an empirical and repeatable approach which can be matured over time that removes all theoretical barriers between you, and the best solutions to the problems you are solving.
What are your goals in regards to all this?
My goal is to give you better options with more successful outcomes. I want you to never have to depend on another company’s product development strategy for your own product development success. Synthetic Methods is the culmination and aggregation of everything I’ve ever experienced in my life that I can meaningfully assimilate into a empirical approach. It can be taught. It can be learned. My goal is to find a well-established consulting firm willing to incubate this strategy within their existing Professional Services bench as a means of deploying this capability to a broader audience. I intend for Synthetic Methods to compete with, but also compliment, many existing methods and frameworks.