What I've done

I spent the first half of my career - all 23 years of it - marching in the trenches of Corporate America. I did so with companies big and small, public and private. Mostly they were good companies. A few really stunk. I marched across the United States (in St. Louis, New York, and Chicago) and overseas (in Belgium and India). I was a Certified Public Accountant, a human resources guy, and a recruiter. For most of it I was a Corporate HR Executive who spent a lot of time in meetings trying to convince people - board members and other executives - to do stuff they all knew they should be doing anyway. And during all of it, I loved - more than anything -working really closely with my team to simply-engineer HR...to make it less complex and more valuable, to make it more about the human and less about the resource, to build a community and not a workforce. Sounds simple and just... right? Wrong.

Simplifying stuff is actually really hard. Especially when those most resistant to change are the ones most vested in the current state. Especially when we've been conditioned to allow the organizational structure and management philosophies of the 19th century to overstay their welcome in the 21st century halls and board rooms.

I decided that in order to (really) make a difference in this profession of people - one that I care deeply for - I needed to help blow it up. And that means creating some chaos, instilling a bit of dissent, and maybe even subjecting the hallowed institutions we've held so dear to a little irreverence.

Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

So now I advise organizations, their leaders, and their 'people people' on how to simply-engineer human resources. This often involves helping them find, attract, and recruit HR professionals who actually get this gig - who know how to really change the way we work. I also speak (and write) about humanizing the workplace with anyone who is willing to listen.

And while I'm doing all of that, I also innovate...and build stuff.