Our Story

As a people leader, I have built teams and developed individuals for 20+ years worldwide. Here is what I have learned: “Though People are the core of every business, People development is not the core of business.”

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My workdays were full of meetings, projects, and chasing targets, and I never had enough time to think and develop all my people. So, I did the next best possible thing… I focused and chose a few instead of all individuals. Those not chosen felt left out, disengaged, and anxious.

 

Even for the ones I chose, despite spending time and money, there were three repeating challenges with available development resources and tools: lack of individualization, lack of verifiable results, and lack of learning sustainability.

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How can I overcome these shortcomings and still effectively leverage external resources? This has been a key question on my mind for the better part of the last decade.

 

My wife, Seemantini, a business school professor, introduced me to the powerful frameworks of Peer-Based Behavior Modification. Successfully used in academia since 2000, we want to bring them (and other scientific approaches from Neuroscience, Psychology, Operations Management, and AI/ML) to the industry as a scalable and effective approach to professional development. I have personally tested them with outstanding results on multiple professionals.

 

A series of casual conversations over coffee has become a start-up adventure for us! We are excited to introduce PB JAM, a science-based framework with an online platform for individualized professional development with verifiable outcomes and sustainability.

 

The name PB JAM has dual meanings; the first one is the quintessential comfort food of peanut butter and jam sandwich, the feelings of safety, joy, and anticipation. The second one comes from our initial client experiences. As the groups progressed, we observed that participants liked to engage beyond the weekly sessions with each other. At one session, we heard a participant comment, " This is just like the jamming sessions I remember with my buddies in the garage, full of a-ha moments and joy". And there, the second meaning stands for Peer-Based Jamming sessions where participants build clarity around their professional needs and work on creating a better version of themselves!