EXECUTION PRACTICE Q&A WITH TRISHA BENNETT

At The Gunter Group we categorize our work into four practice areas: Technology, Execution, People, and Strategy, with client engagements often stretching across multiple service categories.

Our work within our Execution Practice supports clients as they pursue large transformation programs and change initiatives, in order to achieve complex and impactful objectives.

In this Q&A we explore our Execution Practice in greater detail with Trisha Bennett, Principal Consultant and Execution Practice Service Leader.

Tell us a little bit about the nature of work TGG focuses on within the Execution Practice:

Our Execution Practice is the intersection of all our practice areas and brings ideas to life for our clients. It’s about implementing strategies and using technology to align and serve people. These types of engagements usually take the shape of larger transformation programs or change initiatives. Our clients may think of these types of programs as focused efforts that just need to be executed, but we make sure that our team is bringing a perspective for how to realize strategic objectives through changes to the people, process, and technology ecosystem of a business.  

Tell us about a recent engagement supporting a client initiative:

We have partnered with a national insurance provider that is undergoing an effort to move from their 20-year old legacy on-premise ERP to a more flexible cloud based solution using Workday Financials. Our consultants supported the organization’s business transformation by leading the program management, technical project management, business analysis, process design, and training strategy and delivery. This engagement was a great example of how our consultants in the Execution Practice used their skills in analysis and project management to make sense of a complex organizational, process, and system environment in a way that was collaborative but with a relentless focus on outcomes.  

What do you anticipate impacting organizations over the next 3-5 years in the Execution category?

Organizations will do more projects in the digital space and these projects are going to require companies to show up differently for their customers and their employees. To make these changes happen, organizations can’t work in the same way that they were working. Internally these changes impact organization structures, internal communications, HR/hiring, and work has to be managed and measured differently. 

Tell us about one of your favorite projects your team has worked on:

Working with executives in translating their visions of the digital space into executable work for the teams that make it happen. These range from creating a new customer experience for a health insurance company to standing up apps for retail sales.

More about Trisha Bennett:
For nearly 15 years Trisha Bennett has partnered with business leaders to advise and lead strategic initiatives in the healthcare, insurance, retail, education, and veterinary services industries. Her career has focused on delivering best-in-class portfolio strategy, program management, project management, and analysis. As a Practice Leader, Account Leader and Manager, Trisha leads teams of consultants to support clients, solving complex business problems. She has a proven dedication to deliver and a reputation for building highly effective project teams by seeking clarity and understanding, even in the most ambiguous environments. Trisha’s management style is focused on collaboration, transparency, and meaningful communication. Trisha holds a BA in Supply Chain Logistics and Business Management from Portland State University; she is also certified as a Project Management Professional, Change Manager, and SAFe Agilist.

TECHNOLOGY PRACTICE Q&A WITH MATT JAMISON

At The Gunter Group we categorize our work into four practice areas: Technology, Execution, People, and Strategy, with client engagements often stretching across multiple service categories.

Our Technology Practice focuses on understanding clients’ technology needs and challenges, and crafting pragmatic action plans.

In this Q&A we explore our Technology Practice in greater detail with Matt Jamison, Principal Consultant and Technology Practice Service Leader.

Tell us a little bit about the nature of work TGG focuses on within the Technology Practice:

Our Technology service line stands out in that it’s an extension of our management and business consulting work. We’re always engaging with our clients from a business lens, utilizing processes and people, and adding a technical depth and expertise to our client partnerships.

What is the most rewarding aspect of supporting clients in TGG’s Technology Practice?

Meeting our clients where they are, understanding their needs and challenges, and crafting a pragmatic action plan. This means evaluating their tech stack, teams, and asking, “What can we do in the next 6 weeks and 6 months?” With this approach we can start helping and start delivering value right away and not just toward a project’s end.

Tell us about a recent engagement supporting a client initiative:

A national education services provider planned and started a digital transformation initiative. We helped them step back and assess their readiness to execute their digital transformation strategy. Additionally, our team made a series of digital program structure and agile product delivery recommendations that we are helping drive forward.  

What are recent trends you see impacting organizations in the Technology space?

COVID has substantially increased consumer expectation for a robust digital experience for many companies. People are much more willing to engage in a digital experience now because it became a reality during the pandemic. And this aligns perfectly with our Technology Service offering. Consumers are demanding a great digital experience and we’re able to help because that transformation is built from everything TGG does.

What do you anticipate impacting businesses over the next 3-5 years in this area?

Expectations of digital experiences are going to be high. Whoever is doing this experience well right now, will likely be doing it well in 3-5 years. Ones that aren’t doing this well or didn’t do it in the past, might not be here in 3-5 years and expanding and creating a digital experience is expensive. Instead of buying property for storefronts, you’re investing in technology costs and data centers — and this will be just as true in the future as it is now.

Tell us about one of your favorite projects your team has worked on:

A global athletic wear company started their digital transformation back in the mid-2000s mostly focused on North America. Now we’re helping expand their global footprint because they sell so many products outside of the United States. This leads to interesting questions to answer, involving how to make technology scalable and reliable. It’s even more interesting because we can use prior learnings to inform new strategic ideas.

More about Matt Jamison:
Matt is an experienced solutions architect with a results-oriented understanding of the intersection between reality and architectural theory. He has the ability to plan, develop, and implement large-scale projects while maintaining impeccable attention to detail. With 20 years of functional information technology experience, Matt has end-to-end IT knowledge from layer 1 networking to application API interaction. An expert in mapping technology solutions to business needs, Matt is also able to conform to required regulations while maintaining IT best practices. Matt’s experience spans multiple industries, including healthcare, telecommunications, and security and software. He is an AWS Certified Solutions Architect and a Certified SAFe 5 Agilist. Outside of work, Matt enjoys the outdoors and all things bike-related.

PEOPLE PRACTICE Q&A WITH
KARA O’CONNOR

At The Gunter Group we categorize our work into four practice areas: Technology, Execution, People, and Strategy, with client engagements often stretching across multiple service categories.

In our People Practice work we empower companies across all industries to align their people and strategic objectives in order to maximize results.

In this Q&A we explore our People Practice in greater detail — as we visit with Kara O’Connor, Service Delivery Manager – People Practice.

Tell us a little bit about the nature of work TGG focuses on within the People Practice:

What separates our People Practice is the unique and focused way that we ensure people and culture are cared for and prioritized in any big change. We frequently assist organizations with large complex change initiatives that balance technical proficiency (project management, business analysis, etc.) and people proficiency (change management, employee engagement, etc.). Our team focuses on being well-rounded so we can thoughtfully bring both perspectives to the table.

What is the most rewarding aspect of supporting clients in TGG’s People Practice?

If we do our jobs well, people feel like we’ve helped them prepare for and overcome something challenging. We’re helping avoid burnout, helping find clarity, and helping design a future with people at the forefront. This truly makes a difference for people’s lives, when their human emotions and reactions are respectfully accounted for. When we’re able to support change like this, it’s very meaningful and very rewarding.

What are recent trends you see impacting businesses in the People Practice space?

I’ve really loved seeing more conversations about integrating change management into agile projects. You’ve typically seen change management presented in very traditional, waterfall methods and these methods are not the only way! 

What do you anticipate impacting organizations over the next 3-5 years in this area?

I think People Practice issues are becoming more mainstream. A few years ago, change management was really on the periphery, not many people were prioritizing it in their projects. Now, we’re seeing more acknowledgement that without addressing the human component in the workplace, you’re missing half of the picture. 

Tell us about one of your favorite projects your team has worked on:

Right now we have someone working on a social and emotional wellness program for a large public school system. At a time when school staffs are being stretched thin, it is great to know we have someone to help organizations strategically plan for and build programs that support the mental wellbeing of their staff. This ultimately has a huge impact on our community as a whole in light of school staff connecting with parents and students.

More about Kara O’Connor:
Kara owns a diverse background in organizational change, team leadership, project management, communications, and marketing analytics. She is passionate about keeping “people” at the center of change management and large-scale initiatives and has enjoyed bringing strategic, people focused solutions to her clients for over 10 years. Kara is very skilled at considering issues with a fresh perspective, which results in her suggesting and implementing viable solutions that may not have been previously considered by an organization. She has worked in a wide range of industries for many nationally-recognized brands, in technology, healthcare, sportswear, and education. Kara holds a B.S in Business Administration and Marketing from Central Washington University. She is also a Certified Scrum Master and PROSCI Certified Change Practitioner. In her free time, Kara enjoys spending time in the great outdoors with her family of four.

STRATEGY PRACTICE Q&A WITH STEPHEN BACON

At The Gunter Group we categorize our work into four practice areas: Technology, Execution, People, and Strategy, with client engagements often stretching across multiple service categories.

Our strategy work capitalizes on existing organizational strengths, as we lead executives and their teams to develop and implement plans that allow them to reach their strategic objectives.

In this Q&A we talk with Stephen Bacon, Service Delivery Manager for our Strategy Practice, and explore our strategy work in greater detail.

Tell us a little bit about the nature of work TGG focuses on within the Strategy Practice:

Strategy for us is about working to articulate our clients’ goals and then helping to articulate and organize a plan for them to get there. Sometimes clients might not know their goals, and sometimes they do. We help them discover the path and make recommendations.

Tell us about a recent engagement supporting a client initiative?

We helped a senior leader in a financial services organization articulate their long-term strategy for a product line. We helped them discover a different way to go to market and recognize the challenges of the industry. And by using their strengths to overcome those challenges and execute, they delivered a record financial year.

What are recent trends you see impacting businesses in the Strategy space?

There are unique economic factors at play right now. Since capital is abundant and interest rates are low, businesses can undertake a wide variety of initiatives. Deciding where to go and how to use their capital in the best way, for their organizations and shareholders, is going to be the main goal. 

Tell us about one of your favorite projects your team has worked on:

We worked with a healthcare organization to learn about and recognize the impacts of an engaged workforce. The results of an engaged workforce result in a multitude of benefits like a sense of collegiality, more effective leadership of teams, and decision making processes that are inclusive and engage the whole workforce. 

More about Stephen Bacon:
Stephen is passionate about understanding the overarching strategic goals of an organization and leading the changes that are so often necessary to implement those strategies. His expertise is guiding strategy and change efforts across a variety of organizations. Stephen has spent twenty years leading initiatives at Fortune 500 companies, academic institutions and not-for-profits in the education services, technology, financial services, consumer products, and healthcare industries, including extensive international experience. Stephen is a PROSCI Certified Change Practitioner, Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), holds a green belt in Six Sigma, and is accredited in various psychometric assessments (MBTI, ESCI, NBI). He holds a B.S. in Finance and Marketing from Boston College and an M.A. in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. In addition to his service on not-for-profit boards, Stephen has three young children and a chocolate lab. He lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

TGG BOOK REVIEW – UPSTREAM

Over the past year, TGG consultant Josh Bathon has provided book reviews for The Project Management Institute of Portland. Throughout the summer and fall we will periodically share some of the reviews that previously appeared in the PMI-PDX newsletter.  

Book: Upstream by Dan Heath

Much of what we do is planned out, driven by templates and schedules. We’re project managers: careful planners, skilled organizers, disciplined doers. However, no amount of planning can solve for everything–problems creep into our projects no matter what we do. Good examples include chronic last-minute change requests, hectic go-lives, scheduling conflicts, unforeseen emergencies and unexpected long-term stabilization escalations. Even the best-planned projects will experience pain points.

That is where Dan Heath’s book Upstream comes in. The book asks a key question: how many of our problems could we solve before they even happen? Reacting to issues is necessary, but preventing them by upstream intervention is even more valuable. Upstream provides a number of questions, barriers, approaches, and case studies that encourage us to think about problems differently. Here are a few of my favorite concepts and applications from the book:

Barrier – Tunneling – The problem arises, escalations occur and everyone scrambles to fix it. But once the fire is out, it is rare for the team to stick around and ask, “How do we prevent this from happening again?” Instead, we simply move from problem to problem with tunnel vision, never addressing root causes in the system. Moving beyond this barrier is key to upstream thinking. 

Approach – Unite the Right People – The ones reacting to a problem aren’t necessarily the right people to change the system. Take the example of a scrum team that experiences a periodic loss of velocity. Once a quarter, a request from the executive team forces 3 of your developers to stop their work and spend time updating reports. This extra work causes a delay in feature releases. You can’t solve the issue of your developers’ productivity by asking the developers to make a change–solving this problem requires the involvement of the leaders who are making the request. By bringing the right people to the table, you can understand the reasons for the last minute requests and try to plan ahead.

Approach – Use the Right Measures – Any single metric can be abused. At a previous company I worked for, the corporate office decided they needed better visibility into our project spending. They required that any proposal above $5M be routed to Corporate for several months additional review. Within a year, every strategic initiative in my region had been broken up into several smaller projects with budgets under $5M, resulting in an enormous overall loss of efficiency. Upstream suggests a simple fix: pair multiple measures together, to prevent people from gaming your metrics and demonstrating a false indication of success.

Project managers spend a lot of their time scrambling to solve problems. Excellent project managers know how to solve problems before they materialize. Upstream is a solid read for the project manager looking to improve their approach.

10 YEARS OF PEOPLE FIRST

On paper at The Gunter Group we are a consulting firm. We provide focused and results driven services to help our clients maximize their potential. 

Thoughtful action. Tangible results. Just like the website says. 

But since our inception in 2011, The Gunter Group has been (and will always be) a people centric organization. Because ultimately every decision we make comes back to people. How we develop people, how those people contribute to growing the firm, and how we collectively serve our clients in their most critical endeavors. 

With all that said, it should come as no surprise that a crucial component to our success formula over the past 10 years has been the caliber of individuals we select to join the TGG family. 

Our “people always” organizational philosophy is delivered through an interview and hiring process that is, by design, strategically unique.

As we engage with consulting candidates we are diligent and purposeful in our “listen-first” approach. The same “listen-first” approach that drives our client work also drives our interview and hiring process.  

It is with this mindset we commit to explore seven focused themes to understand a candidate’s unique potential to move our firm and our clients forward. 

  1. 1. Who Are They?: To build a people powered organization you must get to know the people. We seek to understand who the individual is. What is their story, their unique history? Equally important, what led them to The Gunter Group? Why us? Why now? 
  1. 2. What Have They Done?: What is their professional map? What are their experiences and skills? Do they have the core competencies to be successful within the dynamic nature of the work we do for our clients? We have long sought talent from non-traditional consulting backgrounds by recognizing the value of unique and diverse personal journeys.  
  1. 3. What Are Their Values?: How well do they embody our “Non-Negotiables?” Throughout the conversation can we hear and observe our Non-Negotiables from the individual? Do these characteristics not only drive the way they go about their work, but also what they are seeking in their next team. 
  1. 4. Is There A Pattern Of Success?: Are they over-achievers? Do they have a story where they delivered under challenging or doubtful circumstances? We will always value a pattern of success over pedigree. People who have demonstrated an ability to make those around them better in pursuit of a common goal will always be appealing candidates. 
  1. 5. Are They Team Players?: Have they shown the ability to bring people together to accomplish a goal? What was their role in the process and how do they talk about that experience? It is more than just working “well” with others, do they thrive with a team?
  1. 6. What Are They Looking For?: It is not just us buying into them, it is also them buying into us. Are we a great fit for them? What type of culture are they looking for? Can we support them in realizing their professional goals?
  1. 7. Can They Help Us Better Serve Our Clients?: Will they make us better with something they bring to the organization? If we have a team of consultants that all have the same approach and skills, then we are limiting our ability to help more clients solve more unique and challenging problems. We take pride in seeing talent in uncommon places to build the best team…… not just the best collection of impressive resumes. 

Do these questions always provide the same level of insight? No. These questions have, however, served as a critical barometer throughout the last 10 years to ensure we are bringing in the best people to thrive in our culture and exceed our clients’ expectations. 

We are often asked if this philosophy is time consuming. The simple answer is… yes. Yes it is. It takes time to explore each of these questions in depth with a candidate. But the time spent is an investment. It’s an investment in growing our firm, building relationships and our team capabilities, and enhancing our culture the right way. Not just the expedient way.  

Since our early days as a firm this investment has been a conscious choice by our TGG team, and it will continue to be in the years to come. With our “people first” mindset, we wouldn’t have it any other way.  

More about Matt Bader:
Matt’s passion and leadership purpose is all about helping teams reach their highest potential. He loves building and leading high-performing teams and seeing what can be accomplished when strong values, sound strategy, and a relentless commitment to execution collide. He is a trusted advisor who thrives on building lasting partnerships and driving high-quality solutions for clients. With more than 13 years of strategy, program leadership, and organizational transformation experience in a wide variety of challenging and ambiguous environments. Matt has advised clients in the retail, education, finance, and professional services industries and served as a leader in the military and nonprofit sectors. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy with a B.S. in Business Management and is a Certified Scrum Master, a Certified SAFe 5 Agilist, and has certifications in program management, LEAN, and contract management. Outside of being a loving husband and father, Matt enjoys the intersection of all things hockey, heavy metal, fitness, and beer.

WHAT IS AGILE ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE?
(AND WHY SHOULD YOU CARE)

In light of the work and results we have delivered to our clients over the past year, today we are introducing a new blog series focused on the impact of successful and strategic Enterprise Architecture.

Being successful in the current business landscape demands agility, a deep focus on customer value, and the ability to build and deliver adaptive strategies. 

If you haven’t considered the way these trends are affecting enterprise architecture (EA), you’re already behind. 

In this article, we’ll explore a new paradigm: agile enterprise architecture. But before we explain the value of this approach, it’s critical to get on the same page about a few core concepts. 

What is enterprise architecture?

Essentially, enterprise architecture is the practice of understanding and documenting components of an enterprise — and the relationships between these components — in order to improve strategic planning and decision making. 

The practice of enterprise architecture encompasses discovery (what does the enterprise have now and what will they need in the future?), design (what’s the best way for the enterprise to achieve its goals?), implementation (how do we put this plan into action?), and documentation (how do we synthesize this information in a useful way?). 

Enterprise architecture is usually focused on information technology and the relationship between IT and business goals. One major goal of EA is to reduce technology debt, a term used to describe the ongoing costs associated with hastily chosen IT solutions (as opposed to those considered in the context of a long-term plan). 

What is agile?

The agile methodology is an approach to the development of products or systems that emphasizes adaptation, evolution, and flexibility. 

The first use of the agile methodology was in software development. However, the spirit of agile — as described in The Agile Manifesto — can be applied to many different practice areas, including enterprise architecture. Frameworks like SAFe® provide guidance for applying these principles to different parts of the business. 

To boil it down to one key element, an agile approach values responding to change over following a plan, delivering incremental value throughout the entire improvement process. In other words, it is an iterative, ride-along approach rather than a prescriptive, point-in-time approach. Value is created along the journey, instead of being solely located at some distant destination. 

The trouble with traditional enterprise architecture

What does EA look like in reality?

Most often, enterprise architecture is the responsibility of one individual or a small team within an organization, or an additional role added to the many on an already overburdened leader. They conduct point-in-time exercises and apply EA “best practices,” which are typically academic in nature rather than drawn from contextualized real-world experience. 

The outcome of these exercises is usually a monolithic document that’s difficult to apply to day-to-day decision making. This document purports to “solve” the enterprise’s technology problems, but too often ignores the fact that every solution has a lifecycle, and that the usefulness of solutions changes over time. 

Because traditional enterprise architecture plans don’t flex and adapt, the technology solutions proposed by the EA team tend to become disconnected from the strategic pulse of the business. These legacy approaches structurally ignore the fact that what you know now is almost invariably going to be significantly different than what you’ll know later on. 

As a result, despite being expected to own the long-term technology strategy for the enterprise, EA teams often slide down the slippery slope towards being perennial meeting floaters, sitting on the sidelines of decisions rather than contributing real value.

What is agile enterprise architecture?

Agile enterprise architecture is a new approach to EA developed by The Gunter Group. Agile EA applies the principles of the agile methodology to enterprise architecture in order to improve business outcomes.

Agile EA focuses on iteration and continuous improvement. In this approach, the job of an enterprise architect is not just to deliver a roadmap — it’s to ride along with the roadmap, continuously closing the gap between the plan and reality as it unfolds. 

In addition, a major goal of agile EA is to create a set of architectural patterns that help define business problems and orchestrate their solutions. Agile EA decenters specific technology recommendations in favor of methods and frameworks for finding the right solution in any situation. 

To put it another way, an agile enterprise architect understands that “owning” the long-term technology plan for an organization is not a sustainable responsibility. Instead, agile EA focuses on enabling internal teams to generate their own solutions to complex problems in alignment with broader strategic goals. 

Agile EA dispenses with outdated and ineffective elements of traditional enterprise architecture practices. Whereas traditional EA is academic, agile EA is pragmatic. Whereas traditional EA is prescriptive, agile EA is adaptive. Whereas traditional EA often becomes decoupled from business strategy, agile EA is solely focused on the ways technology enables business outcomes. 

Ultimately, successfully practicing agile enterprise architecture ensures the organization has the technology runway it needs to achieve its strategic goals. 

Enterprise architecture as a service (EAaaS)

One manifestation of agile enterprise architecture is enterprise architecture as a service (EAaaS). As opposed to project-based consultants who are rarely around long enough to see the execution of their proposed roadmaps, EAaaS provides ongoing support in a scalable subscription format. 

EAaaS can augment or transform in-house EA teams. There are several advantages to this approach, including:

Through enterprise architecture as a service, The Gunter Group has the ability to transform an ineffective, impractical enterprise architecture function into an agile driver of positive change. 

A new era in enterprise architecture

We believe that agile enterprise architecture — which is best realized through EAaaS — represents a dramatic improvement over the status quo. 

More than that, however, we view the shift to this approach as a necessary component of a successful enterprise. 

The old models and best practices of enterprise architecture were developed in a different era. They were not built to handle the strain of the rapid growth and change made necessary by the pace of and competition in the modern landscape.

However, by treating your EA capability as a strategic enabler rather than a tactical function, you will unlock business agility, customer value, and long-term success. 

Agility is the hallmark of today’s most successful businesses — and you simply cannot have an agile enterprise without agile enterprise architecture. 

More about Matt Jamison:
Matt is an experienced solutions architect with a results-oriented understanding of the intersection between reality and architectural theory. He has the ability to plan, develop, and implement large-scale projects while maintaining impeccable attention to detail. With 20 years of functional information technology experience, Matt has end-to-end IT knowledge from layer 1 networking to application API interaction. An expert in mapping technology solutions to business needs, Matt is also able to conform to required regulations while maintaining IT best practices. Matt’s experience spans multiple industries, including healthcare, telecommunications, and security and software. He is an AWS Certified Solutions Architect. Outside of work, Matt enjoys the outdoors and all things bike-related.

INC. MAGAZINE NAMES TGG BEST WORKPLACE FOR 2021

We are thrilled to share that The Gunter Group has been named to Inc. Magazine’s highly competitive list of Best Workplaces for 2021. The Gunter Group was also recognized on Inc.’s selective Best Workplaces Editors’ List which is defined as a “showcase of companies that are not only the best workplace but are taking it a step further, pushing the boundaries and building a workplace of the future.”

Receiving recognition from a nationally respected publication is something that makes our team extremely proud and for which we are truly grateful.

When asked about the significance of the Inc. award, TGG Principal Consultant Angela Tekulve commented: 

“Every single day I work with my colleagues, I am reminded how lucky I am to be part of this amazing organization. I am proud to be part of a team that has been there for each other, our clients and our community in ways we could have never predicted a year ago. Being awarded one of Inc.’s Best Workplaces in 2021 is exciting, humbling and a validation that The Gunter Group is focused on the things that matter.”

When announcing TGG’s award, Scott Omelianuk, Editor-in-Chief of Inc. magazine stated:

“This is no small feat, as this year’s field of entries was the most competitive we’ve ever seen. In 2021, thousands of companies applied to be recognized as one of the best workplaces in America. From the many remarkable companies vying for the award, only a fraction are being honored as Inc.’s 2021 Best Workplaces. Clearly, The Gunter Group has gone through extraordinary lengths to attract, develop, and maintain its workforce.”

The 2021 Inc. Top Workplaces list was publicly revealed online on May 12th, 2021 and will be published in the May/June print edition of the magazine. Over 3,000 nominations are received annually from across the United States and employee surveys are conducted and reviewed by Quantum Workplace. According to Quantum Workplace, the survey program measures a wide range of research-validated workplace factors that impact employee engagement and satisfaction. 

To learn more about the 2021 Inc. Best Workplaces list and see the complete rankings visit: https://www.inc.com/best-workplaces/2021/ 

MIKE & ASHLEIGH GUNTER:
LOOKING BACK & LOOKING AHEAD

We are really excited to be celebrating The Gunter Group’s 10 year anniversary! It has been an incredible journey these past 10 years, and we have so much for which to be thankful and proud.

Mike founded the company in 2011 with the intention of building a firm that could do meaningful work for clients, locally in Portland (to start), and that would serve our community. He also wanted to create a learning culture in which people of different experience levels and backgrounds could chart their own course and thrive, and do that in a super collaborative environment where the team not only valued working together, but also enjoyed each other’s company as part of the deal.

We are pretty proud to say we feel like that’s the environment that has been created at TGG over the last 10 years! Not only in Portland, but in our other markets in the Pacific Northwest and Western U.S.

We are fortunate to have not only worked with a lot of different clients and client companies, but to have also made many friends along the way. We feel a deep level of gratitude to all of our clients who, in the beginning especially, were willing to take a risk on a scrappy start up consulting firm trying to establish itself. Thank you!

We are also so proud of our team. It is meaningful and significant to us to have team members that have been with us since the beginning; when we could all fit around a lunch room table. Those team members have been so critical to the success of the firm, and to attracting more and more highly skilled and experienced people to the firm. Our company is our team, and our culture is what drives us.  

The culture that has been built at TGG is what led to our Non-Negotiables.  These 6 core values – Collaborative, Integrity, Intellectual Curiosity, Thrives in Ambiguity, Emotional Intelligence, Grounded Confidence – emerged organically a few years ago from discussing how we were already operating as a team. They represent our North Star as a firm, and govern how we work together as a team as well as with our clients and communities.

We look at things like this: we get to be surrounded by 50 something people that we respect professionally and enjoy personally. We are so fortunate!  The desire to maintain our culture is what drives our decisions around growth and the future.

We are so excited about what the future brings for TGG in the next 10 years and beyond, and we want to thank everyone who has been with us on this journey so far. Here’s to the next 10 years!