About

Focusing on Principles First

At Applied Principles Consulting LLC we focus on not just the "What" and "How" but the "Why" and "When"

  • In what context do practices make sense?
  • Why do they work?
  • When do they break down?
  • What is the purpose?
  • How can we adapt practices to meet your specific needs?

We understand that the #1 predictor of successful organizational change is your organization's ability to customize practices for efficiency and effectiveness in your context.

We're here to partner with you on that journey.

Matthew Carlson

As a consultant, I work with many internal change agents . Matthew is unique. He was hired as an expert in Agile development to create the durable practices and culture that scale as the company grows. What distinguishes him is the sway he has with influential senior engineers and management. His secret is that he listens deeply, really deeply, finding a way to get real commitment to a business aligned strategy and move forward. I would work with Matthew again in a heartbeat. He brings his best to work every day.
- Jim Arena

Matthew Carlson is fascinated by the intersection of software development, communication, and high-performance teams. He is a developer, trainer, coach, facilitator, and speaker with over 20 years’ experience helping organizations improve at every level, from powerful software development teams to senior leadership. With his strong focus on fundamental principles, people who work with Matthew gain a deep and practical understanding of how and why solutions work in their context.

Matthew’s background in Organizational Communication has helped executive and team members find clarity through his coaching, teaching, mentoring, and facilitation. He is known for bringing people together, deep listening, and helping people discover practical solutions.

This Communication centered lens allows Matthew to guide teams through the complexities of building software from Product Discovery to Technical Excellence. He helps teams focus on Value from a User perspective and communicate better with the surrounding organization to meet their goals. He has a strong background in User Research, collaborative Design Thinking, Lean Startup practices, and specializes in helping teams use these tools to build software that doesn’t just function but delights users.

Matthew has been a professional software engineer working on projects as diverse as healthcare management, integration with steel fabrication robots, and mobile communication applications on Android and iOS platforms. He has an outstanding Java background and has recently added JavaScript to his bag of tricks. His technical passion is cleaning legacy code and helping organizations get to a point where they are focused on continuously delivering customer value rather than fighting fires.

He is a frequent conference speaker on topics ranging from Organizational Communication to Mob-programming.

Matthew lives just south of Napa, California where he and his wife make a hobby of “collecting hobbies”. From studying languages, musical instruments, historic costumes, to 3D printing, and jewelry design they are always learning and building.

What others have to say:

Matthew was tireless in his effort to move Ticketfly's engineering methods and processes forward. His deep knowledge of agile methodologies and his experience in technical practices as a former developer made it a joy to work with Matthew. On several occasions, he organized training sessions by well-known industry experts. Matthew is cheerful, always optimistic, and has a good sense of humor. I am looking forward to working with Matthew again in the future, not just because he is great at what he does, but also because he genuinely cares.
- Alex Bochannek
Matthew is a great coach! He works with developers to improve individual and team performance. He collaborates with senior management to build autonomous teams. I highly recommend him and would love to work with him again! Matthew never holds back on sharing his knowledge. He works with engineers to help them either adapt to Agile principles or reinforce their practice on continuous improvement. He organized and ran code dojo sessions when the team needed to pick up a new programming language. As a manager, my first interaction with Matthew was in a meeting he helped facilitate. The encounter and impact were detailed in my post https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-15-peers-make-decision-less-than-hour-mu-qiao. Working with Matthew, I've learned a new set of tools and framework to help me function more effectively as a leader.
- Mu Qiao

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