Michael Herman invites the focused attention
and flow of activity needed to deliver mission-critical, politically-difficult,
needed-it-yesterday, bottom-line results -- in all kinds of organizations
and situations -- where success depends on effective use of both
human and financial resources. In short, he opens and supports
strategic conversations that help people get their most important
work done, in spite of everything.
As principal consultant for Michael Herman Associates, Michael has
worked with technology, financial, healthcare, community, education,
association and government organizations, as large as Lucent
Technologies, United Airlines and Abbott Labs and as small as
local community groups. Over the years, his practice has evolved
from financial planning and analysis, through corporate teambuilding
and organization redesign, into managing and learning in open
space and cyber space. He specializes in strategic invitation,
working conversation, project planning and fast action.
For example, in one situation Michael took
on interim program management responsibilities for a multi-million
dollar export assistance program. He cleaned up a nine-month
collections and paperwork backlog, re-established working relationships
with all program participants, rewrote every piece of printed
program material and redesigned the entire program data processing
system, reduced claims-filing errors (delays and rework) from
70 to 7 percent, and opened a strategic, regional conversation
about the future of government-industry partnership in the food
export industry.
Other engagements have included the establishment
of strategic leadership processes for a division of a Fortune
500 firm, development of financial, database, website and program
infrastructure to support the rapid expansion of a Chicago non-profit,
the merging of 22 clinical lab departments into four super-departments
to achieve critical cost-reductions at a large university medical
center, as well as the facilitation of a long list of larger
and smaller meetings and events in Open Space
Michael is an active member and founding webmaster
for Worldwide
Open Space. He has served as guest lecturer at Loyola
University's Masters Program in Organization Development and
led workshops for the Association of Quality and Participation,
Organization Development Network/Chicago, Midwest Facilitators'
Network and the Crossroads Center for Faith and Work.
Michael Herman Associates also hosts a number of its own learning
events each year, including an Open Space Technology training
workshop with OST originator Harrison Owen.
Michael founded Michael Herman Associates
in 1991. Prior to that, he worked as a management consultant
specializing in healthcare finance and as a leader of urban,
wilderness and corporate adventure learning programs for Outward
Bound. He holds a BA in Economics, with Honors, from Indiana
University and an MBA in Finance and Healthcare Administration
from the University of Chicago.
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