Who is Principal Consultant Paul Flanagan?

Paul is a motivator who keeps people focused on the goal rather than themselves. He is a mediator who finds common ground among disparate factions and a communicator who believes that people work best when informed about that which affects them. Paul is the trusted third party who gets things done because he isn’t linked to any special interest in an organization. He is an inclusive leader who believes in the value of the team.

Two degrees from MIT should make Paul Flanagan a geek, but his sense of humor and ability to put himself in the shoes of others belie that stereotype. In the eyes of some, his years as Vice President of Information Services at a medium sized, Christian, non–profit media company should make him a conservative thinker, but his tenure as Executive Director of Information Technology of the nation’s flagship, liberal-leaning, newspaper offsets that as well. As an engineer, many suppose that he should be clueless about what others are trying to communicate, but his attention to the non verbals and interest in reaching consensus makes that a poor assumption, too. In short, he is a consultant with eyes that see the whole picture and not just a narrow sliver.

Paul has designed and programmed computer systems for a variety of clients and handled the finances for his two successful companies as an entrepreneur. As a result, he can talk bits and bytes to the technical staff and debits and credits with the CFO. He’s a technology coach who can size up a vendor’s proposal and know whether it’s smoke and mirrors because he has analyzed the rise and downfall of many hope–filled projects. He can consider a request for new software or hardware and judge whether a redesign of a current business process is sufficient because his expertise in optimization gives him the tools to do so.

Experience has equipped Paul Flanagan to recognize that the core issue at the base of almost any information technology problem is usually a people issue, not a technology one. Unless people are motivated to change, unless they are involved in finding solutions to the problems at hand, and unless they communicate – communicate – communicate – with each other, the best technology is bound to disappoint.

Paul has university teaching experience and has made many presentations in front of conference audiences, corporate senior management, and church groups from teens to adults. These have earned him raves for his humorous, yet thought provoking, style. He will challenge you, involve you and give you the guidance to ease your journey to achieving your goals.

You can also read Paul's resume.