The MTMG Blog

Guidance worth reading.

Practical thinking on technology leadership, AI, growth, sourcing, and cyber — from the people who do the work. One honest post a week. Nothing for sale.

East · Technology Sourcing & Optimization August 20, 2026

I need to make a platform decision in the next 90 days and every source of information I have is either a vendor trying to sell me something or an analyst report that was written for companies ten times my size.

Small municipalities and mid-market companies buy technology from the same two sources: vendors selling the product, and analysts writing for organizations ten times their size. How to build a ninety-day decision when no neutral source exists at your scale.

Joe McGuire  
North · Leadership & Decision-Making August 11, 2026

I made a significant restructuring decision last quarter without talking to a single person outside my company — my accountant doesn't count — and I'm starting to realize that's a pattern, not a one-off.

Deciding alone is a structural condition, not a character flaw. What decision isolation costs operationally, what the research shows, and the five-person outside circle that fixes it.

Michelle Pope  
North · Leadership & Community August 4, 2026

The last 'intimate executive dinner' I went to had thirty people, a panel, and a vendor moderating every conversation back to their product — does anyone run these things without a hidden agenda anymore?

Executive dinners increasingly double as sales funnels. A genuinely agenda-free gathering still exists — here is what it requires.

Tara Nelson  
North · AI & Leadership July 21, 2026

Every AI session I sit through feels like either a vendor pitch or a consulting firm's lead-gen — where do I go to hear what is actually working?

The most honest AI conversations are happening in small, closed, peer-led rooms — not on conference main stages. The difference is structural: who controls the agenda, who pays for the stage, and whether anyone in the room needs your business.

Paul Knittle  

More voices join the rotation through August and September — a new post every week from across the MTMG team.