TPB Solutions offers both technical and leadership training to organizations who value high performance, or routinely face great challenge. Learn and develop your team’s techniques & abilities to consistently achieve optimal outcomes, both during duress and for unique opportunity.
High Performance Organization Training & the PINC Management Method®
The PINC Management Method (People, Information, Needs, & Capability, pronounced “pinch”), developed by Thomas P. Brown (Tom Brown), Executive Director of Physical Plant Management (now Emeritus) while serving at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), and is now a core training program aspect for large organizations offered by Tom Brown (via his firm, TPB Solutions, Inc.). The PINC Method as first developed at CSUN complimented Tom’s Dynamic Reliability Centered Maintenance approach (a modified form of conventional (Generation 2) maintenance that incorporated aspects of Reliability Center Maintenance (RCM)) thus making the conventional programmed and routine maintenance program capable of effectively responding to extraordinary need and / or extraordinary opportunity. The PINC method was further applied to defensibly and effectively allow the development and application of Tom’s national award winning “Student Design Team Program”, allowing highly effective use and involvement of University students, in coordination with industry (maintenance & construction) professionals as well as faculty / research individuals (most often volunteers). This method subsequently allowed highly effective “applied technology” programs and projects to be confidently undertaken, while optimally serving the core program goals (student education / development) of the institution.
The PINC Method is a management approach that primarily establishes and maintains the ability to set value added priorities and effectively influence individuals and groups, such to develop and maintain a dynamic posture and readiness of a department / program; to further be able to safely (confidently) and effectively apply the department / program resources (mainly highly effective people as a primary resource) to the greatest determined need or unique opportunity. The PINC approach characterizes and combines Leadership and Team building criteria, organizational structure and engineering design and analysis techniques (including innovation modes), and control theory concepts (data maintenance & feedback) to best develop a dynamic and responsive posture within the organization / department.
The PINC Method is best applied to departments / programs where “People” are the primary resource (internally and to a degree externally) of said department / program. The PINC Method compliments modified forms of modern Reliability Centered Maintenance (a high degree of on-going critical and analytical assessments, failure mode assessments, & particularly “management of change” practices), but can compliment any program where People are the primary resource for success. PINC further establishes an optimal emergency response and disaster mitigation posture and optimal capability to adjust and respond effectively to such needs. PINC assures a department / program’s readiness and competence in support of an organizations otherwise conventional Business Continuity Planning / program approach. Additionally, the PINC Method supports innovation and affords executives the ability and confidence to pursue extraordinary opportunity utilizing the highly developed and dynamic resources within (or under the direction of) the PINC Management Leadership, while maintaining a high level of confidence that the core (conventional) responsibilities of that department / program will not be at risk.
The primary goal of the PINC Management Model is to achieve and maintain a competent posture of “Can Be” (see attached PINC Charts), and be able to act and react (as an extended Team) with confidence and capability for extraordinary needs and / or for unique opportunities. To achieve a “Can Be” posture, the organization must develop “Effective Teamwork”, must demonstrate highly capable Leadership, must have good Information (data) and feedback (i.e. timely and ongoing information); and must have developed a strong Capability for organization and problem solving (typically focused on “optimization”). The PINC Method does not disregard convention, rather it compliments process and procedure with continuous improvement practices, while establishing manageable priorities of the otherwise conventionally static processes that afford a department / program certain value when no greater need is apparent.
The PINC Management Method played a key role in the effective response and recovery at CSUN from the infamous 1994 Northridge earthquake. It was further demonstrated with the extraordinary department accomplishments (under Tom Brown) at the University (CSUN), including some of the earliest renewable energy systems and sustainable practices and programs at CSUN (the world’s 12th largest fuel cell power plant and the first (ever) competitive bid owner installed plant of it’s kind; some of the earliest and largest PhotoVoltaic plants in California; one of the worlds earliest triple junction Concentrated PhotoVoltaic (CPV) plants installed as a “proof of manufacturing” project for DOE & Boeing; CSUN’s “Student Design Team Program” (a nationally recognized award winning program); an award winning and highly recognized sustainable subtropical rainforest in the San Fernando Valley; et al.
Other Titles: “The PINC Method”; “PINC Management”; “Management in a PINC”;
The Influence PyramidTM as shown on chart above (part of the program), denotes the trained methods of influence (Trust, Finesse, & Power); where Trust is the preferred and considered most effective and enduring approach; Finesse is at times required (dealing with external individuals and / or agencies, where Trust development is impractical (i.e. not enough time, dealing with politically influenced situations, etc.)); and Power (last resort), mostly where authority exists and individual character does not support a Trust approach (i.e. an unethical or dishonest employee). Besides certain common approaches, the one common need that remains available to all applied programs (with a dynamic posture and capability) is the “Challenges & Opportunities”.