[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":273},["ShallowReactive",2],{"pages:\u002Fabout":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"canonicalPath":245,"createdAt":246,"cta":247,"description":56,"extension":260,"meta":261,"navigation":256,"path":245,"schemaOrg":262,"seo":265,"slug":56,"status":269,"stem":270,"type":271,"updatedAt":246,"__hash__":272},"pages\u002Fabout.md","About",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":242},"minimark",[9,33,37,40,43,46,97,171,207],[10,11,18,23],"div",{"className":12},[13,14,15,16,17],"flex","flex-wrap","items-center","gap-4","not-prose",[19,20,22],"h1",{"id":21},"about-managementpro","About ManagementPro",[24,25],"img",{"src":26,"alt":27,"className":28},"\u002Fimages\u002Fsmall_mp_logo-removebg.png","ManagementPro",[29,30,31,32],"h-14","w-auto","-mt-8","ml-auto",[34,35,36],"p",{},"ManagementPro helps leaders strengthen high-stakes initiatives before\nexecution begins, and gets initiatives already underway back on sound\nfooting.",[34,38,39],{},"Important initiatives often run into trouble before the first task is\nassigned. People agree on the work without agreeing on the change it\nmust produce. Critical assumptions go untested. Measures track activity\nwithout showing whether the initiative is accomplishing its purpose.",[34,41,42],{},"We help leaders and teams find and resolve those weaknesses through\nStrategic Project Design. At its center is Terry Schmidt's modernized\nLogical Framework, or LogFrame: a one-page matrix that connects the\nwork, its deliverables, and the intended change with measures of\nsuccess and the assumptions on which results depend.",[34,44,45],{},"Making those connections visible gives teams something concrete to\nexamine together. They can challenge the logic, resolve differences,\nand strengthen the design before committing major resources.",[47,48,53,69],"u-card",{":ui":49,"className":50},"{\"header\":\"p-4 sm:px-6 bg-primary\"}",[17,51,52],"overflow-hidden","mt-10",[54,55,57],"template",{"v-slot:header":56},"",[58,59,66],"card-title",{"className":60},[61,62,63,64,65],"text-2xl","font-semibold","text-inverted","leading-snug","tracking-tight",[34,67,68],{},"Who Calls Us, and When",[10,70,75,80,83,87,90,94],{"className":71},[72,73,74],"prose","dark:prose-invert","max-w-none",[76,77,79],"h3",{"id":78},"at-the-start-of-something-consequential","At the Start of Something Consequential",[34,81,82],{},"You're launching a strategic priority, cross-functional program, product\nor system, or legacy modernization with money, credibility, or\norganizational performance on the line. You need to test the design\nbefore major commitments become costly to change.",[76,84,86],{"id":85},"when-everyone-agrees-until-its-time-to-act","When Everyone Agrees, Until It's Time to Act",[34,88,89],{},"The strategy has approval, but departments disagree about what it means,\nwho must deliver what, and how success will be measured. Initiatives\nenter planning before those questions are settled. You need a shared\ndesign before differences become delays, rework, and missed commitments.",[76,91,93],{"id":92},"when-an-important-initiative-is-stalled-or-off-track","When an Important Initiative Is Stalled or Off Track",[34,95,96],{},"Deadlines slip, problems keep resurfacing, and despite the team's best\nefforts, results aren't improving. Critical decisions remain unresolved.\nYou need to expose weak links in the design and decide what to change,\nrestart, or stop to restore progress.",[47,98,103,111],{":ui":49,"className":99,"id":102},[17,51,100,101],"mt-8","scroll-mt-32","strategic-project-design",[54,104,105],{"v-slot:header":56},[58,106,108],{"className":107},[61,62,63,64,65],[34,109,110],{},"What Makes Strategic Project Design Different",[10,112,114,117,120,123,127,134,140,146,152,158,164],{"className":113},[72,73,74],[34,115,116],{},"Strategic Project Design (SPD) is a distinct discipline that comes before\nplanning. It defines an initiative's intended change, outcomes, measures,\nand assumptions, and it tests the logic connecting effort to results.",[34,118,119],{},"SPD builds an executable design using the LogFrame, which expresses an\ninitiative as a cause-and-effect hypothesis. With it, leaders can see\nwhether the activities will produce the deliverables, whether the\ndeliverables will produce the intended purpose, and whether that purpose\nserves the larger goal. Misalignment, weak assumptions, poor measures,\nand broken connections become visible early.",[34,121,122],{},"Strategic Project Design does not replace traditional project\nmanagement, it precedes it. It gives Agile, Waterfall, and hybrid\nmethods a more reliable design to work from.",[76,124,126],{"id":125},"why-it-works","Why It Works",[34,128,129,133],{},[130,131,132],"strong",{},"It begins before direction hardens."," Most methods start once the goal\nis set and a plan is due. Strategic Project Design starts earlier, while\nthe initiative can still be reshaped at low cost.",[34,135,136,139],{},[130,137,138],{},"It makes the logic testable."," Each level of the LogFrame is an if-then\nclaim. Writing those claims down lets teams challenge them directly\ninstead of debating impressions.",[34,141,142,145],{},[130,143,144],{},"It connects what other approaches treat separately."," Strategy, causal\nlogic, assumptions, measures, and execution readiness live in one\narchitecture, so a change in one shows its effect on the others.",[34,147,148,151],{},[130,149,150],{},"It makes rigor simple and actionable."," The core tool fits on one page\nand uses plain language. Teams can apply it in a working session, not\nafter months of training.",[34,153,154,157],{},[130,155,156],{},"It provides a basis for adapting."," When conditions change, the design\nshows which assumptions have broken and which parts of the initiative\nmust change with them.",[34,159,160,163],{},[130,161,162],{},"Enhanced with AI, led by judgment."," Leaders and teams draft the design.\nAI then reviews the draft to challenge assumptions, find gaps, strengthen\nmeasures, and stress-test the causal logic. Every decision stays with the\nleaders accountable for the result.",[24,165],{"src":166,"alt":167,"className":168},"\u002Fimages\u002Fthink_before_you_accelerate.jpeg","Think before you accelerate",[169,170,17],"w-full","h-auto",[47,172,175,183],{":ui":49,"className":173,"id":174},[17,51,100,101],"terry-schmidt",[54,176,177],{"v-slot:header":56},[58,178,180],{"className":179},[61,62,63,64,65],[34,181,182],{},"Who You'll Work With: Terry Schmidt",[10,184,186,189,192,195,198,201,204],{"className":185},[72,73,74],[34,187,188],{},"Terry Schmidt's career has run through engineering, government,\ninternational development, business, and the classroom. Each one added a\npiece of what is now Strategic Project Design.",[34,190,191],{},"It started in engineering. As an aerospace engineering student, Terry\ninterned on NASA programs, where he learned to think in systems,\ncausality, and performance under real conditions. He carried that\ndiscipline into government, managing federal programs at the U.S.\nDepartment of Transportation.",[34,193,194],{},"There he was recruited by Practical Concepts Inc., the firm that\ndeveloped the Logical Framework (LogFrame) for USAID, to field-test and\nextend the method. That work took him to 24 countries with USAID and the\nWorld Bank, designing complex initiatives under political, technical,\nand institutional uncertainty.",[34,196,197],{},"What he saw abroad shaped everything that followed. The problems the\nLogFrame was built to catch, such as unclear objectives, untested\nassumptions, and weak links between the work and the results it was\nmeant to produce, were just as common in companies, government agencies,\nand research organizations. Over the next three decades, he adapted and\nmodernized the method so leaders in those settings could fix these\nproblems before committing to execution.",[34,199,200],{},"UCLA Extension's Technical Management Program became his development\nlaboratory. Over more than four decades of teaching short courses there,\nseveral thousand technologists and business leaders brought real\ninitiatives into his classroom. Their questions, constraints, and\nresults shaped the method into its current form. UCLA Extension honored\nhim with its Distinguished Instructor Award.",[34,202,203],{},"Terry has trained more than 25,000 professionals. His clients include\nBoeing, Microsoft, Sony, Trader Joe's, and Fernco; the U.S. Department\nof Energy, and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); and\nthe Los Alamos, Sandia, and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories.",[34,205,206],{},"He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in aerospace\nengineering from the University of Washington. He leads every\nManagementPro engagement himself.",[47,208,210,218],{":ui":49,"className":209},[17,51,100],[54,211,212],{"v-slot:header":56},[58,213,215],{"className":214},[61,62,63,64,65],[34,216,217],{},"Different Challenges. Common Design Problems.",[10,219,221,224,227,232],{"className":220},[72,73,74],[34,222,223],{},"Our clients face a wide range of challenges. A national laboratory needs\nto align research, operations, and security teams around a major\nmodernization initiative. A manufacturer wants a better process for\nevaluating and selecting projects before committing resources. A\ntechnology company needs product, engineering, and sales teams to agree\non what success looks like for a new platform. A federal agency must\ndemonstrate how program spending will produce measurable results.",[34,225,226],{},"Despite these differences, the underlying problems are often the same:\nunclear objectives, conflicting assumptions, weak measures of success,\nand plans that haven't been tested.",[34,228,229],{},[130,230,231],{},"These are design problems, and we help clients solve them before they\nbecome execution problems.",[34,233,234,235],{},"For specific examples, see ",[236,237,239],"a",{"href":238},"\u002Fclient-stories",[130,240,241],{},"Client Stories →",{"title":56,"searchDepth":243,"depth":243,"links":244},2,[],"\u002Fabout",null,{"title":248,"description":249,"links":250},"Test Your Initiative's Design","If you are shaping an important initiative, or trying to understand why one is struggling, let's discuss what it needs to accomplish and where the design may need attention.",[251],{"label":252,"to":253,"target":254,"icon":255,"trailing":256,"size":257,"color":258,"variant":259},"Schedule a conversation","calendly","_blank","i-lucide-arrow-right",true,"xl","primary","solid","md",{},{"primaryType":263,"jsonLdMode":264},"WebPage","generated",{"metaTitle":266,"metaDescription":267,"indexable":256,"robots":268,"title":5,"description":56},"About | ManagementPro","About ManagementPro.","index,follow","published","about","page","pniL7SI_qZQEeqKSTl8NuNRiUINr1OswLiMZ6PUN0r4",1793666306800]