I work as a coach, trainer, speaker & author to help organizations build better products and executives build the cultures that build better products.
If you are looking for a short bio and headshots click here.
I started my career as a designer working with the first companies to use the internet as a new communication, sales and service channel. Over my 20+ year career I have worked as an information architect, design team leader, product manager, founder, trainer, coach and consultant.
After co-writing the award-winning Lean UX (O’Reilly, 2013, 2016 & 2021) and Sense & Respond (HBR Press, 2017) I co-founded Sense & Respond Press with co-author, longtime business partner and friend Josh Seiden. The goal? Bring customer-centric, evidence-based decision making and agility back into corporate cultures.
Having worked at early internet firms like America Online (AOL) and iXL I saw first-hand the potential this new way of communicating had to transform how we lived, worked and transacted. I spent the first half of my career designing the products and systems millions of people used every day. Ten years into my career I reached an interesting cross-roads.
Much of the work I and the teams I worked with were doing was focused on getting software shipped to market with little concern for how well these products and services met the needs of our customers and users. I knew there had to be a better way.
Working with my teams at first at TheLadders and then as a co-founder at Neo Innovation (one of the first Lean & Agile agencies) I helped bring the ideas of customer-centric, cross-functional collaboration to light and refined the application of these ways of working through another decade of consulting, coaching and iteration.
Today I work as an independent coach and trainer to large organizations struggling with objectives and key results (OKR), their digital transformation, increasing their agility and integrating good product management and User Experience practices into their ways of working. I teach and coach executives and product teams on these challenges and am proud to be a contributor to these organizations’ evolution.
On a personal note, I am happily married for more than 20 years and am am the proud father of two amazing daughters. We also have an old cat and a young dog. There’s likely an Exorcist joke in here somewhere but I’ve yet to find it. 🙂
I am excited to partner with executives and companies looking to improve not only their products but the culture that builds them. To learn more please reach out directly at jeff@gothelf.co.
Since you made it this far, here’s a pic of me having fun with my pal @snack00.
