INTERVIEW, PART III
AT: Why are most of your clients in business and in particular IT?
MC: It’s what I know. After the economics degree from Rutgers and a short stint in Mutual Funds and Banking, I geeked out for 5 years on a new contraption called a PC. Who remembers 8 inch floppies? I read machine code and patched operating systems for fun, but I missed humans. I studied Expert Systems as a bridge between the two worlds, but everyone knows that didn’t work out.
After my MBA in Management, I worked for big consulting firms, mostly doing transformations. Initially, I worked on the backend, ramming change through organizations. Next, I became an expert at rescuing runaway IT projects. After that I worked the front-end, either with process redesign, strategy, or culture change. It was rich and rewarding work. What could be better than world travel, tough business challenges, and forgetting to pack your dress shoes? Sure, little stuff happens, like getting locked out of your hotel room naked.
In life, lots of bad things happen along with the good. There are two categories of bad. The worst category is called “death”; all the others bad things fall into category called “little stuff”. Anyway, as a management consultant, I learned that 80% (if not 100%) of business problems are really people problems.
AT: Who else do you work with?
It goes back to the quality of the answers. When people hear congruence between what I say and their current work situation, they engage. Generally, I work with experts, but I receive all kinds of inquiries: conflict management, tips for woman executives, green product design, political campaigns, marketing/branding, sales training, etc. Who knows, maybe my next gig will be in prison. (You know what I mean.) Anyway, high-tech folks are brethren who often need help seeing the logic in illogical behavior. Techies who get people? Now that could really change the world.
AT: Any books in the works?
MC: Yes.
AT: About?
MC: I’m not ready to reveal that yet.
AT: We are about out of time, what haven’t I asked that needs asking?
MC: Ask what people should do next.
AT: Seems reasonable. What do you want people to do?
MC:
- Sign up for my Engaging Ezine.
- Read my Free Stuff which includes an advice column
- Ask a Question
- Check out my traditional biography
- Book me for a Speaking event.
- Hire me as their Coach
- Come to a Breakthrough Bootcamp
- And have a fabulous day!
Thanks Allison, that was fun.
AT: You are welcome, Michael.