Different Chairs

Hi. I’m Brian Kerr

I’m a consultant serving clients in technology, finance, healthcare, and the social sector.

My goal is to reduce suffering and wasted effort.

MS, Information, University of Michigan
Prosci Certified Change Practitioner

Clients

“Brian led an assessment for my development team which provided me with unexpected, actionable, and valuable insights into my team’s performance and ways that it could be enhanced. His approach was extremely effective and collaborative, which allowed him to develop the trust necessary to understand what was going on with the team and to get honest and direct feedback that he turned into recommendations we still use a year after his visit.”

I’ve completed 81 engagements for 30 clients over a 20 year span. Here are a few of their organizations:

Client organizations include Microsoft, Moss Adams, Xome, PATH, Brooks Running, Providence, University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing, CDSS, Boulder County, Colorado, County of San Mateo, California, County of Cuyahoga, Ohio, and FNS/USDA.

Projects

Every project is different. A typical design might be:

First, we gather people together and get to agreement on the problems at hand and some potential solutions.
Next, we set up a measurement system to see what’s going on and respond appropriately to changes over time.
Then we roll up our sleeves and go—building on what works while learning from what doesn’t.

My clients bring difficult problems to work through, curiosity about underlying causes of suffering, and a readiness to try something new.

“What I have appreciated most in my time working with Brian is his ability to gather multiple perspectives and feedback to craft solutions. Brian is impactful with his communication and listening skills, his ability to collaborate and his flexibility in adapting to changes in course. He is amazingly good at listening to and responding to critique. His end goal is a better whatever-it-is-he’s-working-on-or-towards and he has passion for making sure it includes the input of anyone who cares about the end result.”

Methods

These are the key methods and approaches I use. I write about them in detail on Improve Something Today:

Continuous improvement

Group facilitation & workshop design

Strategy planning & deployment

Change management & organizational design

How I got here

I started my first consulting project as a distraction from grad school, and it quickly became my chosen way of working. I worked as an independent consultant for a decade, and then for a second decade as a consultant and manager at two consulting firms.

My focus throughout has been to help my clients and their teams find their way across their most difficult challenges and unpleasant circumstances. I love being able to support and learn from the ever-expanding set of people I’ve worked with over the years.

This consulting practice has been one long ‘apprenticeship to the truth’, as Emerson put it. I try many different approaches. I discard the ones that don’t work. I keep and refine the ones that do. All this in order to get the most meaningful and durable results for my clients.

Brian’s consulting background: details

After college I got a systems analyst job and enjoyed that for a few years. I went back to school for a Master of Science from the University of Michigan School of Information.

During grad school, I started doing project-based work, and I haven’t looked back. I spent 10 years as an independent technical consultant with emphasis on applying UX methods to increase the value of working software—my ‘changesets for dollars’ era. Eventually I got tired of developing software that didn’t consistently make a dent in my clients’ organizations. Software is only sometimes the answer.

This interest in outcomes led me to learn about applying lean and continuous improvement methods in a variety of larger organizations. For the next 5 years, I worked alongside clients in the public and nonprofit sectors, using and mutating continuous improvement methods to directly benefit the public. Finally, over the most recent 5 years, I’ve practiced additional skills, including approaches to organizational development, change management, and ways to link strategy to measurement.

What I enjoy most about the work is helping people uncover mutually beneficial—often surprising—solutions to big problems. These solutions often originate from employees with lower status; I celebrate when their insights are heard, acknowledged, and realized. I look for ways of communicating and planning that take the usual bullshit, turn it upside down, and use it as fertile soil to grow something new.

My ideal client

You lead a project, team, department, or organization. You are swamped in uncertainty and can’t tell which competing (often opposing) demands will help you in the long run. You need a plan for today, this week, this year that gets you somewhere new and valuable and useful for your customers.

You can look out there, way out, and see where everybody needs to arrive. But how?

Let’s make a plan

The best next step is likely a conversation. Schedule ours here:

"Brian is an excellent listener and collaborator. As a result, he is able to turn ideas into tangible products and services with minimal waste and no excuses. He is the rare talent that can design and build complex software products and then turn around and teach an all-day workshop. As a facilitator he is able to guide clients through complex processes and push them to reach their goals. All of his work efforts and human interactions are guided by respect for people and a strong drive to continuously improve processes and places.”

“Brian is an expert in Lean, kaizen, and process improvement. I thought I understood Lean principles until I met him; he helped (and demonstrated) how much more I had to learn. He lives and breathes and demonstrates respect for people in all that he does. He loves to challenge the status quo and drive the setting and process to where it should have been from the beginning. His ability to manage change is amazing to watch. He truly raises the bar every time he steps into a meeting or gathering of people. He may be the most humble man I have ever met.”