MATTHEW E. MAY
A Bit About Me
My simple aspiration is to help companies remove the obstacles to growth, create superior value, and achieve sustainable competitive advantage. I do that by acting as a strategic strike force using Toyota-born-and-bred “Lean” expertise to guide leaders and their teams to quickly formulate winning strategies, improve customer experience, deliver rapid innovation, and optimize critical processes. I deploy an exclusive portfolio of engagements featuring a compelling blend of special facilitation methods, powerful business frameworks, and proprietary tools designed to develop elegant solutions to difficult problems.
I’ve published several thought-provoking books. My new book, What A Unicorn Knows: How Innovative Entrepreneurs Use Lean Principles to Scale for Growth, co-authored with Pablo Dominguez, will be published in February 2023 by BenBella Books.
I run the Lean ScaleUp program for Insight Partners, a leading global private equity and venture capital firm investing in high-growth technology companies. I’m a contributing writer for several publications and sites, a New Yorker cartoon caption contest winner, and an avid cyclist.
books
“This book should be a must-read for any innovator, business leader or problem solver.”
BRAD SMITH, Executive Chairman , Intuit
This book is the culmination of giving a real-world thought challenge to thousands of people over ten years, and reveals seven observable problem-solving patterns that can block our best thinking. Calling on modern science to help explain things, along with insights from the world’s best thinkers, it offers a super-curated, field-tested set of “fixes” proven to raise your thinking game.
PRAISE
“Matt, I want to convey the important impact you clearly had on our team and emphasize how much we value learning at AppNexus. I look forward to celebrating both quick wins and complete rethinks your session today ultimately triggers.”
PABLO DOMINGUEZ
VP, AppNexus
“Matt, our sessions with you gave us the forethought and foresight that enabled us to not only weather the recent real estate crash, but positioned us to launch a new brand for an entirely new home purchaser and emerge as market leader.”
KEN KRIVANEC
President, Quadrant Homes
“Matt, thank you for the guidance you have provided the Senior System Leadership Team. You add depth to our thinking on how we are developing people to improve unique processes to create superior value and win in the marketplace.”
JEFFREY HUNTER
EVP, Thedacare
master classes
master classes are high-energy, hands-on, tools-based and perfect for time-crunched professionals wishing to upskill themselves and their teams in the most relevant business disciplines
PLAYING
TO WIN
Strategy Development Framework
DESIGN
THINKING
Customer-Centered Innovation
LEAN
THINKING
Toyota Production System + Kaizen
JOURNEY MAPPING
Customer Experience Development
BUSINESS BIG THREE
Strategy + Design + Lean
WINNING THE BRAIN GAME
Advanced Creative Technique
articles
a sampling of my contributions to well-known publications
Zen & The Art of Simplicity
Rotman MagazineKill The Stupid Rules
99-UThe Art of Subtraction
Rotman MagazineCreate The Cartoonist Way
Fast Co.7 Targets for Lean Innovation
HBRSkunk Works
Rotman MagazineGot A Career Strategy?
99-UThe Most Engaging Ideas Leave Something Out
HBR7 Zen Design Principles
Fast Co.Winning the Brain Game Interview
Rotman MagazineStealing Ideas Is Harder On Your Brain
Inc.Creativity Loves Limits
HBRThe FEDEX Logo Story
Fast Co.Mastering Creative Tension
Rotman Magazine6 Secrets To Doing Less
Strategy + BusinessConnecting The Dots The WSJ Way
Fast Co.How to Hold Lean Meetings
99-UThe Secret to Solving Problems Creatively
Inc.Neuroscience of Change
Rotman MagazineAddition By Subtraction
NYTLess-Is-Best Innovation
HBRThe Art of Bosslessness
Fast Co.Perils of Self-Censoring
99-UThe Weekend Creativity Booster
Inc.Loose Reins Management
HBRHow to Quiet Your Mind
HBRMindfulness Without Meditation
NYTObserve First, Design Second
Rotman MagazineHow to Reset Your Brain
Inc.Breakthrough Borne Of Conflict
HBR
CONTACT
To inquire about services and availability, please feel free to contact me directly or via social media: