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.
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.