Kathy Long, Ph. D. Kathy@OptimaConsulting.com

Dr. Long's multi-faceted background provides the breadth and depth to take on the complex issues facing leaders today. For over 25 years, she has been helping people and organizations improve their performance. She has been on the front lines as a founding executive in a software startup, a foundation president, and an internal senior staff consultant for a Fortune 500 company. Her work has taken her throughout the world to places like Taiwan, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic

Education

Her education combines the behavioral sciences to enable a deep understanding of both individual and system-wide issues. She earned a Masters degree in Human Development with an emphasis in perception and cognition as it relates to decision-making and behavior.

Her grounded theoretical research in human and organizational systems with its practical application to problem-solving in business culminated in a Ph.D. from the Fielding Graduate Institute.

Her trans-disciplinary background contributes to the practical and innovative solutions she brings to her clients

Key Skills

• Diagnostics and problem formulation. Problem-solving is focused on root causes, rather than on symptoms
• Systems-thinking "out-of-the-box"
• Conveying complex ideas in plain English.
• Asking challenging questions to enable a systemic view.
• Talking to senior executives in business language about the human side of the business.

These skills enable her to quickly gain insight and understanding into the complexity of organizational issues in order to identify high leverage points to target scarce resources.

Affiliations

In order to maintain a broad and eclectic view, she has been affiliated with many diverse groups, including the following:

• Software Development Forum
• Silicon Valley Association for Startup Entrepreneurs
• Forum For Women Entrepreneurs
• American Society For Cybernetics
• San Jose State University adjunct faculty
• International Center for Systems Management, Prague, Czech Republic.
• International Synergy Institute, Budapest, Hungary