Jeffrey and Laurie Ford are, both literally and figuratively, a marriage of theory and practice. Jeffrey is an associate professor of management in the Max M. Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He holds a B.S. in marketing from the University of Maryland, and an MBA, and a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from The Ohio State University. Prior to joining Fisher, Jeffrey served on the faculties of the Institute of Management and Labor Research at Rutgers—The State University of New Jersey, and the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University.
Laurie is a management consultant and owner of Critical Path Consultants. She holds a B.S. in psychology, a Master’s degree in industrial engineering, and a Ph.D. in operations research engineering, from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Prior to starting her own business, Laurie was a consultant with Arthur Anderson in Washington D.C. Since then, she has served as a consultant to scores of businesses, government agencies, and not-for-profit organizations, including Intel, Mead Paper, U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, the Ohio State Medical Association, and the Ohio Hospital Association. Laurie has also taught graduate-level university courses in engineering, management, and organization design.
Jeffrey likes to say he teaches what Laurie practices, and Laurie says she practices what Jeffrey teaches. Their collaboration has resulted in a unique approach to making management easier and organizational change less painful. Jeffrey’s MBA classes, where Laurie is a frequent and popular visitor, are recognized for their unique perspective and immediately usable content, making Jeffrey an award-winning teacher.
Laurie, who has backpacked around the world and motorcycled across the United States, is known for making the difficult happen with surprising ease. A professional speaker and program leader, she has an engineering background that provides her with the powerful tools of network theory. She has used these tools to develop a unique “hotwiring” method to locate and resolve the invisible disconnects between individuals and groups that can limit organizational performance.
Together, Jeffrey and Laurie have coauthored over a dozen articles for academic and professional management journals including the Harvard Business Review. Coauthors of “Deadline Busting: How to be a Star Performer in Your Organization,” they also publish the twice-monthly Great Managing Newsletter, free to subscribers.
Jeffrey and Laurie work together, and separately, to deliver conference and in-house programs on their unique approach to management, including effective communications within and between groups, and engaging people in improving productivity and accountability. To talk with Jeffrey or Laurie about delivering a program for your organization, contact Jeffrey at ford.1@osu.edu and/or Laurie at laurie@laurieford.com. We also welcome your questions and suggestions about using The Four Conversations at www.usingthefourconversations.com.
