Michael J. Penney

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5 Paragraph Business Plan

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DOMINATE: Michael J. Penney’s Special Operations Book (2026)

On July 4, 2026, Michael J. Penney published DOMINATE: The Special Operations Way To Win In Business. The paperback runs 250 pages in an 8.5 by 11 inch format (ISBN 979-8234101273). Amazon lists it as book 1 of 3 in the 5 Paragraph series, with Michael J. Penney as both author and publisher.

The problem it takes on

The book description starts with a problem many leaders will recognize:

At some point, every leader realizes the problem isn’t effort. The team is working. The meetings are happening. The plans are written.

DOMINATE book description

From the outside it looks like progress, the description goes on, but inside, execution is inconsistent, priorities drift and decisions slow down. “The organization is moving—but it is not aligned.”

What is inside

The foundation is the framework Michael first published in 2017: the 5 Paragraph Business Plan. The description lists the questions it makes a team answer before it acts:

  • What is happening?
  • What are we trying to accomplish?
  • How will we do it?
  • What resources are required?
  • Who is responsible, and how do we communicate?

According to the description, readers learn how to:

  • Build executable plans
  • Align people and priorities
  • Eliminate friction
  • Lead under pressure
  • Scale with discipline

From there, DOMINATE builds a full operating cycle: Plan. Act. Debrief. After Action Report. After Action Review. Repeat. The book also includes business formulas, a glossary of terms, lessons learned, leadership wisdom and a list of recommended books.

This is not a book you read once and set aside. It is a system to apply.

DOMINATE book description

Why it matters

The five questions are the five paragraphs of a military operations order: situation, mission, execution, administration and logistics, and command and signal. Michael learned that format as a Marine infantryman across three combat tours: Ramadi, Iraq, in 2005-06 and 2007, and Kajaki and Sangin, Afghanistan, in 2011. He has been teaching it to business leaders ever since.

The 2017 book gave owners a way to write a plan. DOMINATE adds the debrief and the after action review, the part of the military cycle that turns each mission into lessons for the next one.

The release date, Independence Day, fits a book by a Marine veteran about winning.

See DOMINATE on Amazon

This post is part of the From the Archive series, which collects Michael’s past media appearances in one place. See the full media archive.

Work with Michael

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Life Transformation Radio: 5P Military Management Method (2020)

On November 12, 2020, Life Transformation Radio aired “5P Military Management Method For The Modern Workforce with Michael J. Penney.” The show originally ran on BlogTalkRadio. The episode runs just under an hour.

What the episode covered

The title introduced a new name for his work. By late 2020 the 5 Paragraph Business Plan had become the “5P Military Management Method For The Modern Workforce,” a method for running a team day to day, not only for writing a plan.

The episode notes describe his role at the time:

He currently works as Chief Advisor at 5Paragraph.com, working with business leaders around the globe, calling upon his military and entrepreneurial experiences to assess, train, advise, and assist businesses in the implementation of the 5P Military Management Method For The Modern Workforce.

Life Transformation Radio episode notes

His service record: eight-plus years in Marine Corps infantry and three combat tours: two to Ramadi, Iraq, with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines (2005-06 and 2007), and one to Kajaki and Sangin, Afghanistan, with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines in 2011, where he led a section of advisors. Between those tours he served at Quantico as a weapons instructor. He left the Corps as a Sergeant with an honorable discharge.

The notes also mention his March 2016 TEDxRaleigh talk, “What’s Your IED: How to Add Value During Life’s Explosive Situations,” which they say “has cultivated many wonderful relationships between veterans and business leaders.”

Why it mattered then

The notes describe the 5P method as an action-oriented business management tool “focused on business creation, growth, and long-term sustainability.” Calling it a management method, not just a plan, reflected what he was hearing from business leaders: the hard part is not writing the plan, it is getting a team to carry it out.

The military answer to that problem is the operations order. Everyone gets the same briefing in the same format, so everyone knows the mission, their part in it and who to talk to. That is what “for the modern workforce” was meant to bring to a civilian team.

Where to find it

BlogTalkRadio, where the show first aired, has shut down, and the original episode page no longer loads. The YouTube copy above is still up.

The episode notes link to his 5 Paragraph Facebook page and his LinkedIn profile.

Watch on YouTube

This post is part of the From the Archive series, which collects Michael’s past media appearances in one place. See the full media archive.

Work with Michael

Marine veteran, TEDx speaker and author of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan. Bring him to your stage, wear the gear, or catch him live.

Book Michael to Speak
Shop the MJP Store
Get the 5 Paragraph Business Plan
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A New Direction: Your Business Plan Is a Military Mission (2020)

On October 14, 2020, Jay Izso released “Your Business Plan is a Military Mission – Michael Penney” on his podcast, A New Direction. The episode runs a little over an hour, at 1:05:44.

The premise

Izso opened the episode notes with a scenario. You are in the middle of a war, facing an enemy that wants to take everything from you. You would not just wake up one morning and figure it out as you go. You would ask what you need, what the enemy has, what the conditions are, and what your assets are. Then he turned it around:

And that is the way we should be thinking about our business. Shouldn’t we treat our business and business plan the same way?

Jay Izso, A New Direction episode notes

What the episode covered

Izso introduced Michael as a combat Marine veteran and the author and creator of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan, and wrote that Michael “doesn’t just believe so…he is convicted by it!”

The most surprising idea in the notes is how the plan defines the enemy:

In his 5 Paragraph Business Plan you will learn that your enemy is not your competition, it is not people, your enemy is the NEED your potential customers are hoping you will fulfill in your business and business plan.

A New Direction episode notes

They also talked about people. As you build your plan, Izso wrote, you may find that you do not have the right people to help you complete the mission.

Why it mattered then

The “enemy is the need” idea is the most distinctive part of the 5 Paragraph approach. It moves the focus away from beating competitors and toward serving customers. In a military order, the situation paragraph starts with the enemy. In Michael’s version, it starts with what the customer needs.

Izso, a business coach and speaker, closed the notes with the goal every owner shares: to be able to say “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!”

Looking back

The episode page is still up with a working player, six years later.

His service record: eight-plus years in Marine Corps infantry and three combat tours: two to Ramadi, Iraq, with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines (2005-06 and 2007), and one to Kajaki and Sangin, Afghanistan, with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines in 2011, where he led a section of advisors. Between those tours he served at Quantico as a weapons instructor. He left the Corps as a Sergeant with an honorable discharge.

Listen on JayIzso.com

This post is part of the From the Archive series, which collects Michael’s past media appearances in one place. See the full media archive.

Work with Michael

Marine veteran, TEDx speaker and author of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan. Bring him to your stage, wear the gear, or catch him live.

Book Michael to Speak
Shop the MJP Store
Get the 5 Paragraph Business Plan
Watch Live

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The Veterans Show: Applying the Military OPS Order to Business

On June 26, 2020, Michael J. Penney joined The Veterans Show for a live episode titled “Applying The Military OPS Order To Business.” The stream ran about 33 minutes.

About the show

The episode description places it with the Veterans Chamber Radio Show and its mission:

The Veterans Chamber Radio Show features military veterans, spouses, and community leaders making an impact in business, non-profit, or the government for the veteran community.

The Veterans Show episode description

What the episode covered

The title says it plainly. Every Marine operation starts with an operations order, and Michael’s 5 Paragraph Business Plan uses that same order to plan a business. The episode notes put it this way: he is “the creator of the ‘5 Paragraph Business Plan’ – – taking the military operations order format and applying it to business.”

His service record: eight-plus years in Marine Corps infantry and three combat tours: two to Ramadi, Iraq, with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines (2005-06 and 2007), and one to Kajaki and Sangin, Afghanistan, with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines in 2011, where he led a section of advisors. Between those tours he served at Quantico as a weapons instructor. He left the Corps as a Sergeant with an honorable discharge.

The notes describe his work at the time:

He currently works as an advisor to business leaders around the globe, calling upon his military experience to assess, train, advise, and assist businesses in the implementation of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan.

The Veterans Show episode description

Why it mattered then

This was the summer of 2020. Many businesses had been forced to rethink their plans in a matter of weeks. A planning method built for situations that change fast, with a clear mission, clear roles and a way to communicate, was an easy case to make that year.

It was one of several veteran shows Michael joined in 2020 to explain the method, and the short format kept it focused on the core idea.

Looking back

The phrase “assess, train, advise, and assist” comes up again and again in his bios from this time. It is the work of a military advisor team, the job he did in Afghanistan, now aimed at business leaders.

The episode is still on The Veterans Show YouTube channel.

Watch on YouTube

This post is part of the From the Archive series, which collects Michael’s past media appearances in one place. See the full media archive.

Work with Michael

Marine veteran, TEDx speaker and author of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan. Bring him to your stage, wear the gear, or catch him live.

Book Michael to Speak
Shop the MJP Store
Get the 5 Paragraph Business Plan
Watch Live

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Honor Across Arms: Business Development Professional (2019)

On December 8, 2019, the Honor Across Arms podcast from Society Bytes Radio released episode 31, “Business Development Professional – Michael Penney.” The show describes itself simply: “Hear the stories of our vets past, present, future.” The episode runs about 27 minutes.

Part 1 of 2, as posted to YouTube on December 8, 2019.

What the episode covered

The episode notes give the fullest version of his bio from that period. They open with his service:

Michael J. Penney is a combat veteran of Iraq & Afghanistan. He served in the United States Marine Corps infantry with 3rd Battalion 7th Marines deploying twice to Ramadi, Iraq, in 2005-2006 and 2007.

Honor Across Arms episode notes

From there the notes follow his path out of uniform:

  • Quantico: he reenlisted during his second Iraq tour and moved to Quantico as a weapons instructor.
  • Afghanistan: in 2011 he deployed a third time, with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, leading a section of advisors through Kajaki and Sangin.
  • TEDxRaleigh: his March 2016 talk, “What’s Your IED: How to Add Value During Life’s Explosive Situations.”
  • The 5 Paragraph Business Plan: released in April 2017, taking the military operations order format and applying it to business.

The notes describe his work at the time this way:

He currently works as an advisor to business leaders around the globe, calling upon his military experience to assess, train, advise, and assist businesses in the implementation of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan.

Honor Across Arms episode notes

They close on a personal note: a proud father of four, married, living near Raleigh, North Carolina.

Why it mattered then

The phrase in those notes, “assess, train, advise, and assist,” is the language of a military advisor team, the same job he had done in Afghanistan. By late 2019 he was using it to describe his work with businesses. The episode title reflects that shift: he was introduced as a business development professional, not only as a veteran.

The talk named in those notes was delivered on March 19, 2016, and posted by the TEDx Talks channel that June. The book followed on April 14, 2017. By the time of this episode, both had been part of his introduction for more than two years.

Where to find it

The original Spreaker page for the episode no longer loads. The episode is still on Apple Podcasts, and part 1 is on YouTube above.

Listen on Apple Podcasts

This post is part of the From the Archive series, which collects Michael’s past media appearances in one place. See the full media archive.

Work with Michael

Marine veteran, TEDx speaker and author of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan. Bring him to your stage, wear the gear, or catch him live.

Book Michael to Speak
Shop the MJP Store
Get the 5 Paragraph Business Plan
Watch Live