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How We Got Here

Remember when a career in product development sounded like a dream job?

Three cheerful coworkers collaborating in a modern office; one woman is typing on a laptop while two men, one holding a tablet, look on and smile.

You would get to work on cool things and see them become real products? Maybe even change the world?
We remember that too. But then we got our first jobs, and reality hit. Creating cool products was a ton of work. And it took forever.

Why couldn’t it be easier?
We knew it could be, so we took it upon ourselves to fix it.  That was almost two decades ago.  Along the way we’ve met a bunch of great people, made a lot of friends, and learned from our successes and failures.

But over time, a few lessons became clear.
If teams have the right information, they will hold themselves accountable.  And if collaboration is barrier free, innovation will become predictable.  And fun again.

So we developed Playbook.

Achieve predictable end dates

Process science applied to project management

The "Playbook Methods" were developed by three engineers who spent more than a decade helping companies improve their engineering tools and processes. They were also process geeks who spent countless hours studying Systems Thinking, Theory of Constraints, Queueing Theory, Critical Chain, Lean, Agile, Scrum and Kanban methodologies.

So when they first applied the Playbook Methods, the customer—who had never finished a project on time—completed their project six months ahead of schedule and 20% under budget.

The second customer that used these methods won their company’s Chairman’s Award for finishing an enterprise IT project a year earlier than expected and saving over $400K.

Bar chart titled 'Product Development Cycle Time (months)' comparing four categories: Average (30 months), Record (20 months), Goal (18 months), and Playbook Pilot (12 months). The Playbook Pilot bar is pink and includes a note indicating '$3M Additional Profit' from reduced cycle time.
"Bar chart titled 'Budget ($)' comparing three categories: Average (2–3x), Planned (1x), and Playbook Pilot (0.8x). The Playbook Pilot bar is pink and includes a note highlighting a $600k cost savings.

What’s the secret science?

The core problem is that people are working on the wrong things at the wrong time. Put another way—they have incorrect priorities. Every day this happens, the project end date moves one day. That might not sound like much, but these slips accumulate over time and can easily double the length of your project. All without anyone noticing. But the end result is clear, and the formula is simple:

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Infographic showing how misaligned priorities affect project duration: 12 months baseline schedule divided by 50% time spent on correct priorities equals 24 months actual project duration.

What Our Clients
Are Saying

  • ...Playbook added that catalytic capability to use all the other pieces in the right way.

    CTO, Grid Solutions Company

  • The level of communication, the level of accountability, the visibility of progress is unprecedented here. So we are very happy with that.

    Engineering Director, Medical Device

  • A product development cycle is something now that we really understand with consistency, demonstrated repeatability, and the ability to hit schedule...

    John Labellarte, VP & Chief Operating Officer of Milwaukee Valve

  • I like how quickly we can see the impact of a delay on a small task. Now we can see when a task has an impact on the schedule.

    Project Manager

  • My team is empowered. Their day is less confusing. They do their own planning. They are ‘tickled pink’.

    Sr. Program Manager

  • There was added expense of hiring technical services and training our team in the methods used. But conservatively, the savings from the reduced project time paid for this expense within three to four months—at least a 300% ROI.

    Sr. Project Manager

Meet the Founders

Portrait of a middle-aged man smiling slightly, with short hair and wearing a collared shirt, set against a softly blurred background with warm lights.

Paul DeLong

VP Customer Success

Paul’s early experiences as a mechanical engineer developing national defense weapons for Lockheed Missiles and Space led him to question existing product development methods. Customer success is what drives Paul, and according to Playbook's clients, his quick wit is the best part of Playbook training.

Portrait of a middle-aged man with short dark hair, a beard, and a slight smile, shown against a softly blurred background.

Eric Graves

VP Technology

Aerospace and mechanical engineer turned NPD systems engineer, Eric leads the team of developers to enhance and evolve Playbook. Eric’s intellectual pursuit is taking the best of Lean, Agile, and Theory of Constraints and adapting them to increase project velocity, product quality, creative innovation, and happy new product development teams.

Portrait of a serious-looking middle-aged man with short light hair, wearing a light blue collared shirt, set against a softly blurred background.

David Paulson

President

By the end of his first day as a mechanical engineer, David realized he liked fixing process problems more than working on the design problems. So after he had finished overhauling the engineering tools and processes there, he decided  to venture out and improve the work environments at other companies. At Playbook, David continues to inspire the team to look for ways to improve the value, simplicity and impact of their solutions.

Screenshot of a project scheduling tool showing a three-day work plan for team members Bob, John, Mary, and Sue. Tasks are color-coded and assigned specific time slots, with labels such as 'Design Prototype PCBA,' 'Document/Distribute FEA Results,' and 'Define Interfaces.' Icons indicate task status and completion.

Not Just Software -
A New Approach

Playbook is more than just software, it’s a new approach to project management that takes the best of Lean, Agile, and Theory of Constraints to create a hybrid method that works for hardware teams, or anyone working on a complex project. And don’t worry, the onboarding process consists of online training and live coaching using one of your active projects. This ensures your team is up and running with as little disruption as possible, and you will know for sure the solution will work in your environment.

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Reach out. Learn more.

Interested in learning more about Lean and Agile, or Playbook software? Schedule a call or send us a message using the form. We will get back to you right away with answers.

 

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