FAQs

I offer People and Recruiting consulting on an hourly, retainer, and project basis. More here.

I’m suppose I’m somewhat of a purist. I believe people join startups to do great work with great people - period! And I think many People practices at startups don’t directly support that goal - mostly because it’s really, really hard work. It’s easier to build a robust perks program than to figure out how to (for example) meet every Manager where they are, and get them to a place of competence quickly and cheaply. And while it’s easy for a Founder to say they want to build a high-performance culture, it’s not easy to become a leader who consistently models the standard they expect from others (while everyone at your company is watching you!)

I help startups understand what it really takes to be both results-first and people-first, identify where they are getting in their own way, and then get them on a path towards success.

I’m a fit for companies that align with my stick-to-the-basics style (see above), that are between 10-1000 people, and that are in a period of rapid growth. My impact peaks with companies who need to plan, and build for, a 2-4x annual headcount growth scenario, and want to achieve that scale with quality, not chaos.

It depends on the engagement. For hourly, I’m $500/hr. For projects, pricing based on the length & depth. As part of an introductory “fit” call, we can talk about what scope & pricing works best for you.

If you’re ready to do a discovery call, fill out this form. For all other questions, you can reach me at mckenna@theoryz.co.

Theory X and Theory Y were introduced by Douglas McGregor, a student of Maslow and Sloan professor, in his 1960 book The Human Side of Enterprise. They became pretty foundational ideas in management philosophy and i/o psychology - most previous theories were purely economic while these looked at human nature and motivation. Theory X says employees need oversight. Theory Y views people as intrinsically motivated. While some thinkers— William Ouchi and even Maslow himself—have attempted to define an optimal “Theory Z,” I see the search for an end-all management philosophy as a dynamic one, based on the company, its people, and the surrounding environment. And I believe the best organizations draw from both theories—pairing trust with clear expectations, autonomy with strong measures of accountability.