Phil Bristol is the visionary Founder and CEO of Projectivity Solutions, a dynamic and innovative company at the forefront of delivering cutting-edge project management solutions. With a passion for driving organizational success through effective project execution, Phil has led Projectivity Solutions to become a trusted partner for businesses seeking excellence in project management.
Foundation of Projectivity Solutions
After leaving the US Army in 1984, Phil worked as a strategic systems consultant for an international pharmaceutical company and later managed manufacturing systems before founding Projectivity Solutions, Inc.. His interest in management was initially sparked by Admiral Rickover’s involvement in developing the Polaris nuclear submarine. In the late 1960s, he attended the Department of Defense (DOD) Project and Program Management training program.
As LTC US Army, serving as an Airborne-Ranger officer with 3rd Amour Division, Frankfurt FRG, United Nations Command, Seoul ROK, Test & Evaluation Command, Aberdeen MD, HQ Seventh Army, Honolulu HI, Phil applied project management techniques to a variety of projects.
From 1990 to 1997, the extraordinary business leader honed leadership and project management skills at Syntex Corporation, holding positions such as the international strategic systems planning officer and director of manufacturing systems. In 1997, Projectivity Solutions was established, initially offering project management services to custom home builders in Palo Alto, CA. The company initially focused on complex projects for notable entities like Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, New United Motors (NUMMI), and Eddie Bauer.
Over time, Projectivity Solutions transitioned from serving Fortune 500 organizations to catering to for-profit and non-profit companies with 500 or fewer employees. The client base is now dispersed globally, with a core presence in the United States, Europe, and India. Utilizing assessments to gauge organizational complexity, the company assists CEOs in objectively identifying strengths and challenges that impact customer experience and service quality.
This inclusive approach integrates culture, people relationships, work processes, project management, and strategic plans, fostering a common language and knowledge for the leadership team and employees. Plus, the service offerings have evolved to encompass strategic planning, business process improvement, leadership development, and organizational culture.
In 2021 & 2022, Projectivity Solutions faced a significant challenge in responding to COVID-19 and adapting its service offering. The pandemic led to the closure of in-person client engagements, but advancements in telecommunications technology enabled continued client interactions and opened new opportunities in Europe and Asia. The evolved integrated services from Projectivity Solutions now provide clients with multiple engagement options based on their specific needs and maturity levels.
Innovative Offerings For Businesses
“At Projectivity Solutions, technical expertise and relationship behavior knowledge are the foundation for exceptional individual and team performance, serving small and mid-sized companies with fewer than 500 employees,” says Phil. The company employs various approaches to help team members enhance their skills. It utilizes the Thinking-Doing sequence, intentionally balancing WHAT and HOW management principles to establish a dynamic and responsive organization.
The WHAT aspect focuses on the foundation for success, assuming the creation of a well-formed functional organization approach. This includes elements such as Strategic Direction and a four-tiered Exceptional Enterprise program. This Enterprise Program comprises four components: strategy, culture, infrastructure, and leadership. The essential processes are 1) business development, 2) interdepartmental planning, 3) organizational structure, 4) master processes, and 6) key performance indicators.
In the HOW aspect, essential skills for Projectivity Solutions include leadership, communication, time management, negotiation, team dynamics, and critical thinking. These skills play a fundamental role in delivering a quality customer experience, considering time, scope, and cost constraints.
Furthermore, Projectivity Solutions distinguishes itself by building people, relationships, and high-performing, trust-based cultures. Utilizing over 130 years of science and research, the company objectively gathers client data by conducting targeted “X-Rays” in areas such as business operations, relationships, financial performance, and mindset. The current core offerings include the Enterprise Foundation Program, Exceptional Enterprise Program, Exceptional Manager Program, Exceptional Mindset Program, and Exceptional Leader Program.
- Enterprise Foundation Program: Focused on Fast Results
Development of comprehensive solutions tailored specifically to a company’s business. The program treats a business as a dynamic, living system with interconnected elements. It creates a customized solution by pinpointing the most crucial factors to integrate into a business and prioritizing them accordingly.
- Exceptional Enterprise Program: Moving from REACTIVE to FOCUSED
The program contributes to the development of outstanding businesses by utilizing the Stages of Growth™ methodology, which pinpoints and integrates crucial missing elements into a company’s ecosystem, resulting in the formation of highly efficient and profitable organizations. Much like the essential components that constitute a thriving ecosystem, there are 11 elements essential for an exceptional business. Each component corresponds to a well-structured engagement aimed at fortifying that specific aspect of the business.
- Exceptional Manager Program: Working ON the business, not working IN the business.
Moving from DOING to CRITICAL THINKING. The program is a unique 12-month learning experience that shapes the management team into the backbone of an exceptional company.
- Exceptional Mindset Program: Creating a Culture
Moving from ME to WE. An outward mindset is a foundation for how Phil and his team help leaders achieve sustainable growth and performance. This mindset is a foundation for true collaboration and collective business success. As such, a leader’s inward or outward mindset profoundly impacts leadership style, treatment of people, innovation, collaboration, team building, and overall business success.
- Exceptional Leader Program: Optimizing Human Potential
Moving from CONTROL to INFLUENCE. This program integrates self-mastery skills with leadership capabilities, enhancing team potential through the establishment of trust-based relationships. The third component emphasizes a culture of collaboration, effectively maximizing organizational potential through a harmonious blend of business acumen and compassion. Lastly, the program’s advanced leadership modules encompass conflict transformation and the acquisition of key personnel.
The coaching staff at Projectivity Solutions includes Franck Ramaroson, Dr. Buckholz, and Gary Yeatts, who bring their years of experience to the table.
Integrating The Core Offerings Into a Realistic Solution
Phil initially focused on serving businesses and their employees, driven by a lifelong motivation to help others. However, the challenge arose in finding the right balance between work and interpersonal relationships. The use of Target Training Institute behavioral assessment suites (DISC, Driving Forces, Acumen Capacity Index, and Job Competencies) revealed self-imposed limitations, leading to initial denial but eventual acknowledgment and improvement in behavioral balance and flexibility. This positively impacted relationships with others.
While adept at logical steps in strategic planning and process improvement, he faced a dilemma as the company solved complex organizational work issues for Fortune 500 clients but did not experience growth. The emphasis on work successfully produced results and earned executive management praise, but the struggle lies in achieving overall company expansion. The most significant challenge was integrating the core offerings into a realistic solution to form an engagement framework and roadmap.
The overall engagement is determined by the Stages of Growth assessment, which objectively evaluates the organization’s current performance.
At Projectivity Solutions, Phil and his team work alongside the owner to determine the topic that delivers the greatest organizational impact.
In many small and mid-sized companies, the lack of alignment in goals among executives, mid-management, and employees can inadvertently hinder performance, particularly during periods of staff expansion. Hence, its integrated approach is specifically crafted to enhance and optimize results in such scenarios.
A People-First Company
“We are a people-first company,” says Phil. The Projectivity Solutions team adopts a proactive mindset in client engagements, with a strategic plan undergoing a thorough review twice a year for company direction and internal process adjustments. The operational review assesses infrastructure elements (like process map documentation, position role sheets, key process indicators, and meeting formats) and cultural building blocks, including vision, mission, core values, hiring, and performance conversations. Recognizing these building blocks as stability providers, the team emphasizes delivering timely and high-quality service to each client.
Managing Operational Stability In a Culturally Diverse Team
Projectivity Solutions is a geographic, skill-set, communication style, and culturally diverse team, posing unique challenges. Four geographically located strategists in the US and EU handle content solutions and have primary new client engagement responsibilities. Marketing, website maintenance, promotional communication, and adjunct consultants are spread across the United States and the Philippines.
Phil collaborates with teammates to ensure operational stability and planning service enhancements. He also manages two or three active client engagements annually, utilizing Zoom meetings as the primary connection approach. Monthly professional meetings and speaking engagements provide opportunities to meet others and share experiences.
Biggest Learning Experiences
Phil describes his most significant learning experiences as multi-layered. The extraordinary business leader highlights three key learning experiences:
- Adapting to the challenges posed by the COVID pandemic and successfully expanding business globally through online platforms.
- A transformative shift in approach to organizational engagements influenced by Dr. Jerry Eppler in 1979.
- The foundational life lessons gained from the US Army Ranger program emphasize gratitude for basic comforts in the face of uncertainty, providing a solid framework for navigating both personal and professional challenges.
Key Milestones
In 2024, Phil will focus on developing the company’s offerings to include strategic planning. He has recently been introduced to DRSO, a 360° strategic planning assessment tool, by a European colleague. This tool facilitates a multi-tier organization-wide approach, analyzing the current system state, challenges, and employee beliefs in the company’s future through 81 anonymous questions directed to the team operations owner. The resulting resonance diagnosis image highlights 12 critical points of the organization, indicating current or potential points of difference or failure.
This assessment-based approach to strategic direction provides objective data for each domain, project, governance, and relationship, offering a comprehensive organizational view. It represents the first assessment to provide objective data for a holistic understanding of the organization.
Words of Wisdom
The extraordinary business leader Phil, gives advice, “Unleash creativity and excellence by serving others to build positive and supportive relationships. Re-think your thoughts when obstacles occur… pause and reflect, find three viable solutions, then choose the best alternative for action.”
