Michael J. Penney

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SHIFT Magazine Cover: Michael J. Penney and 5P (2022)

In December 2022, SHIFT, a life design magazine, featured Michael J. Penney and his 5P method in its latest issue and put him on the cover.

In his words

Michael shared the news on LinkedIn on December 12, 2022:

This is a huge honor… Thank you to SHIFT Advance Life Design Magazine for featuring 5P in your latest issue and allowing me to grace the cover.

Michael J. Penney, LinkedIn, December 2022

He also thanked “all of you who continue to encourage and inspire along this journey,” and pointed readers to the magazine’s website, where clicking his cover opened the digital edition. He tagged the post #LEADERS, #PENNEY, #addVALUE, #SHIFT, #SHIFTmagazine and #LifeDesign. The link in his post now leads to the magazine’s homepage, shiftlifedesign.com.

What 5P was by then

By the end of 2022, 5P had grown well beyond the book. What began as the 5 Paragraph Business Plan in April 2017 had become a management method for teams, which he taught through 5Paragraph.com. The idea is the same one he learned as a Marine infantryman: every mission is briefed in five paragraphs, covering the situation, the mission, execution, administration and logistics, and command and signal. 5P uses that format to plan and run a business.

He spent eight-plus years in the Marine Corps, with combat tours in Ramadi, Iraq, in 2005-06 and 2007 and in Kajaki and Sangin, Afghanistan, in 2011, before turning to business, writing and speaking.

Why it mattered then

Most of his media before this were podcasts and online interviews. A magazine cover is a different kind of recognition. It puts the person and the idea on the front, not in the episode notes.

The hashtag he chose, #addVALUE, goes back to his 2016 TEDxRaleigh talk, “What’s Your IED: How to Add Value During Life’s Explosive Situations.” Six years later it was still the theme.

The first 5P book was a 91-page paperback released in April 2017. His TEDxRaleigh talk was delivered on March 19, 2016.

Where to find it

We have not been able to locate the December 2022 issue online. The magazine’s website now shows a later edition. If you have a link to the 2022 issue, we would like to hear from you. In the meantime, his original post is still on LinkedIn.

Read the post on LinkedIn

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.

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Time To Shine Today Ep 131: Michael Penney of 5Paragraph (2020)

On September 9, 2020, L. Scott Ferguson published episode 131 of Time To Shine Today, “Taking Military Operations Format and Applying it to Business,” with Michael Penney of 5Paragraph.com. The interview runs about 30 minutes.

What the episode covered

The show is about leveling up your life and business, and Ferguson framed the episode that way: 5 Paragraph “implements military operations into civilian life to help businesses Level UP.” In the opening of the transcript he calls Michael his “Leatherneck” and says he will be sharing knowledge on “adding value to every situation.”

The episode page pulls out one line from Michael:

The value of a handshake and a heartfelt smile is paramount

Michael Penney, Time To Shine Today Ep 131

Ferguson’s “Knowledge Nuggets and Take-Aways” from the conversation:

  • Always add value to every situation
  • Assess, train, advise and assist
  • Delegate authority to get a solid feedback loop
  • Great people focus on the right ‘nouns’ (person, places and things)

Why it mattered then

Those four points sum up how Michael talked about leadership in 2020. “Add value” goes back to his 2016 TEDx talk. “Assess, train, advise and assist” is how a military advisor team describes its job, which is what he did in Afghanistan in 2011. Delegation with a feedback loop is how a squad runs when the leader cannot be everywhere at once.

Near the end, Michael talked about the legacy he wants to leave his children. He told Ferguson that the Constitution means a whole lot to him and that he wants his kids to grow up with patriotic values.

The episode opens with Michael recording a short intro for the show, telling listeners that if they want to level up their life, they should be listening to Time To Shine Today “with my friend, Scott Ferguson.”

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.

Looking back

The episode page still has the full transcript and links to 5Paragraph.com and his other channels.

Listen on Time To Shine Today

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
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Get the 5 Paragraph Business Plan
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The Ambitious VET Ep 97: Lead Like a Military General (2020)

On August 13, 2020, Chris Hoffmann posted episode 97 of his podcast, “Lead and Manage Your Projects Like a Military General with Micheal J. Penney.” Hoffmann, a Marine Corps combat veteran, built his show around what he calls the Ambitious VET. The conversation runs about 49 minutes.

What the episode covered

Hoffmann framed the episode around the pandemic. He asked what it would look like to use a framework veterans already learned in the military to work through the fight against Covid-19. His notes list the key moments of the show:

  • Bridging the gap between “rounds down range” and the rounds that come at you in life after the military
  • A four-day cross-country trip after Michael left the Corps in 2012, and how fully using his veteran status sped up his learning in the civilian world
  • Why you can’t undo being a veteran
  • The five IEDs veterans deal with mentally and emotionally after service, and the one solution that keeps them moving forward
  • The light bulb moment behind 5Paragraph, and a breakdown of the 5 Paragraph format you can use right away

Michael’s recommended resource was Zero to One by Peter Thiel.

The three Golden Grenades

The show closes with three takeaways, which the notes call Michael’s “Three Golden Grenades”:

  • Process: the planning process comes first, from the annual retreat down to fragmentary orders and immediate action plans when your hair is on fire
  • Nouns: the right people, in the right places, with the right things
  • Delegate: set up observation points and keep a finger on the pulse, so you can tailor the plan as you go

Why it mattered then

The “IED” language in the episode goes back to his March 2016 TEDxRaleigh talk, “What’s Your IED? How to Add Value in Explosive Situations,” which the notes link. In the middle of 2020, a lot of veterans running businesses were dealing with exactly that kind of explosive situation.

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.

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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Rage of the Age: Military Management Methods for Your Business

On August 11, 2020, Philip Sharp released an episode of Rage of the Age titled “Michael Penney, Military Management Methods for Your Business.” It runs about an hour, at 1:02:30.

What the episode covered

According to the episode description, the interview filled the whole show. Sharp skipped the essay segment that usually opens his episodes to make room for it.

The description introduces Michael as an eight-year Marine Corps veteran and the founder of 5 Paragraph, which it calls a military management method for the modern workforce. It also points to two pieces of his work:

  • His book, 5 Paragraph Business Plan: The Action Oriented Business Management Tool for Leaders
  • His TEDxRaleigh talk, “What’s Your IED”

The core of the episode was how the operations order the military uses to plan missions can be adapted for a civilian company. The description presents it as a practical model to help companies run more efficiently and get employee buy-in. Michael also talked about current issues and about the America he fought for.

Why it mattered then

In August 2020 a lot of business owners were rewriting their plans. The pitch for the 5 Paragraph method was that it is not a document that sits in a drawer. It is the same structure Marines use to brief a mission: the situation, the mission, how it will be carried out, what support is needed, and who is in charge and how everyone will communicate.

The “employee buy-in” point was a theme of his 2020 interviews. A plan everyone has been briefed on, in a format everyone understands, is easier for a team to own.

The episode came out five days after his August 6 appearance on Veteran Nation. The book named in the notes was first released in April 2017, and the TEDxRaleigh talk was delivered on March 19, 2016.

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.

Where to find it

The episode listing is still online, but the listing site warns that the audio file may no longer play, and we have not found another working copy. If you have a copy, or know where the episode lives now, we would like to hear from you. If one turns up, we will add it here.

View the episode listing

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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Live with Michael Bluemling Jr. Ep 78: Michael Penney (2020)

In February 2020, Michael Bluemling Jr. released episode 78 of the Live with Michael Bluemling Jr. Podcast, titled “Michael Penney Discusses His Organization, 5 Paragraph, and Being a Conservative Veteran Entrepreneur.” Listings date it February 10, 2020. It runs about 48 minutes.

What the episode covered

The title sets out three topics: his organization, the 5 Paragraph method behind it, and what it meant to be a veteran running a business with conservative values.

The episode description gives the same bio that appeared across his interviews that year:

  • Marine Corps infantry with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, deploying twice to Ramadi, Iraq, in 2005-06 and 2007
  • Reenlisted and moved to Quantico as a weapons instructor
  • A third combat tour in 2011 with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, leading advisors through Kajaki and Sangin, Afghanistan
  • Honorably discharged as a Sergeant after more than eight years
  • TEDxRaleigh speaker in March 2016, with “What’s Your IED: How to Add Value During Life’s Explosive Situations”

The notes describe the 5 Paragraph Business Plan as taking the military operations order format and applying it to business, with Michael advising business leaders on how to put it to work. The episode was distributed on Libsyn, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and Himalaya.

Why it mattered then

Most of Michael’s earlier guest spots stayed on business and transition. This one put his values in the title. The show is listed under news and politics, and the title signals a conversation about values as well as business.

It was also the start of a working relationship. Six months later, in August 2020, Bluemling, credited as Michael “SGT” Bluemling, Jr., co-hosted Michael again on Veteran Nation, an NRN+ series about the challenges veterans face when they come home.

The description lists two websites for listeners who wanted to learn more: 5PARAGRAPH.COM and 5ParagraphBusinessPlan.com. Both pointed to the same idea, a business plan written in the format of a military operations order.

The guest list around this episode shows the show’s focus. The next episode, number 79, featured Rhonda Furin discussing her candidacy for U.S. Congress in California District 45.

Where to find it

The show’s Libsyn directory page now says it is no longer available, but the episode is still listed on Spotify and other podcast apps.

Listen on Spotify

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