Playmaker Program

Elevates systems thinkers and problem solvers from a “job” mindset to connect all the fundamental building blocks across any company.

One Book | Two LIVE PROGRAMS

Built on Congruence for those who want their work to create comprehensive impact and value.

Critical thinkers are often underutilized, boxed into siloed roles, and frustrated by poor strategic and operational realities that fail to solve real-world problems or create value.

Congruence and the Playmaker Program empower you to overcome workplace hurdles that constrain your abilities and appetite for impact.

Developed based on over four dozen purpose–strategy–operations transformations at public and private companies over two decades.
Created for motivated engineers, scientists, analysts, consultants, and project/program managers seeking company-wide impact.
Converts your untapped problem solving instincts into value-focused and capital-efficient company-level and market impact.
Includes virtual interactive sessions, individual and collaborative exercises, proprietary discoveries, expert practitioners as guests, and long-term access to a high-caliber peer group and community.
Calibration vs Mastery

Syllabus

Download Syllabus

A company is an interconnected Rubik's Cube. Each lesson teaches you how to design and build one or more fundamental building blocks and how they connect with all the other building blocks. The program culminates with your own unique company design. The best version of any company minimizes incongruences across building blocks and over time.

Playmaker Program has two cohorts – Calibration and Mastery. Both programs are intense company building exercises where each participant embraces a One Company playmaker role.
Calibration enables turnaround, transformation, and change practitioners to comprehensively rethink "companies" and what makes them "good" in 4 sessions over 8 weeks.
Mastery runs for 10 sessions over 10 weeks. It transforms analytical problem solvers to think, decide, and act on behalf of all company stakeholders to balance value exchange and optimize capital efficiency.
Meet to understand fit and ROI

John Oommen

Questionnaire

I invested 7 years independently transforming companies facing challenges – beyond experiences at big name companies (GE, ExxonMobil, Capital One) and consulting firms (Blue Ridge Partners, Accenture) – to develop a comprehensive and cohesive method to answer: How do we build and manage a "good" company? My search led to Congruence and the Playmaker Program.

Electrical Engineer, Six Sigma Black Belt, Northwestern Kellogg MBA.
20+ years of hands-on purpose, strategy, and operations impact.
Transformational experiences at over four dozen public, private equity, venture capital, and entrepreneurial companies.
Hold Seat  |  Pay Now  |  Pay As You Go

Flexible options to unleash your impact.

Choosing to transform your mindset, knowledge, and skills to have greater impact at work and in the world is a big decision. Reserve your spot and learn more to ensure this is the right fit for you.

Pay upfront or pay-as-you-go* options.
$100 to reserve spot for 3 weeks (refundable). You will be contacted in 24 hours.
Calibration: 4 sessions | 3 hours per session | 8 weeks ($900 | $1200*)
Mastery: 10 sessions | 4 hours per session | 10 weeks ($1800 | $2500*)
Who is THE PLAYMAKER PROGRAM For?

Created for critical thinkers who measure themselves on company-level impact

The Playmaker Program empowers intrinsic problem solvers to go beyond the limitations of their 'job' to do what is right: challenging their companies to maximize value creation and deploy capital efficiently.

Suits intrinsically motivated problem solvers

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science, mathematics, economics (or equivalent).
Relevant practical experience beyond academia and entrepreneurship.
Passion for delivering value-centered, real-world impact for others.
Desire to be part of a community of intrinsically motivated problem-solvers.

Built for those who think beyond their ‘job’ to create value

Project managers and program managers seeking greater fulfillment.
Analysts aspiring to elevate their impact to the company level.
Transformation agents looking for tangible guidance and actionable knowledge.
Current or aspiring consultants aiming to influence companies holistically.
Engineers and scientists seeking to expand horizons beyond technology.
Why Congruence & Playmaker Program?

Are you prepared to be relevant and lead in a meritocratic, value-centered economy?

Why Congruence & Playmaker Program?

1: Merit Problem

The global economy will realign incentives to focus on value and cut waste because it has been on an unproductive path for two decades.

Congruence and The Playmaker Program prepare you to lead the economic transition to meritocratic, value-centric, capital-efficient, and sustainably profitable companies.

Why Congruence & Playmaker Program?

2: Silo Problem

MBAs, certifications, and boot camps condition you to adopt a “jobs mindset” – like a plumber, electrician, or mason – when purpose-minded architects are needed.

Congruence and The Playmaker Program transform you into an architect who connects all intrinsically critical parts of a company.

Why Congruence & Playmaker Program?

3: Information Problem

Most “business advice” is shallow misinformation from academics, career writers, or hustlers, not deep-skilled practitioners. You are likely misinformed.

Congruence and The Playmaker Program help you unlearn misinformation and recalibrate your skills to operate with genuine confidence and competence rooted in true knowledge.

Why Congruence & Playmaker Program?

A Congruence Architect solves all three problems.

A holistic company is a symbiotic organism with five equally important stakeholder groups in a balanced value exchange relationship, which requires alignment of purpose, strategy, and operations. Most companies FAIL to balance this equation.

Designing and building holistic companies needs one or more critical thinking playmakers to hone their instincts to become Congruence Architects.

WHAT IS THE PLAYMAKER PROGRAM?

Teaches you the only model, method, and mindset you will need around companies

The Playmaker Program is the only comprehensive and cohesive solution that corrects what you think you know, answers what you know you don’t, and reveals what you don’t yet realize you need to know about companies.

Save 10+ years of trial-and-error learning

I wish someone taught me what I learned through years of trial and error, taking significant personal and career risks. Now, I’ll be that someone for you.

Learn unspoken realities about companies

I invested 20 years in a research-minded career to uncover how to build and manage “good” companies. What I discovered goes well beyond the lessons from my Top 5 MBA, corporate, PE/VC, or consulting experiences.

Start a life-long growth & impact journey

Critical thinkers are rare, and it is easy to feel disconnected. The Playmaker Program is your gateway to a unique community where you’ll self-develop, learn with others, and grow together.

WHAT IS THE PLAYMAKER PROGRAM?

Playmaker Program offers three options

Self Study: Use Congruence as an Office Desk Handbook

A true playmaker embraces growth and continuous self-study. Congruence is written as a desktop reference guide for critical thinkers wanting to lead evolutionary changes at companies. It’s a trusted companion for deeper learning, best paired with a highlighter and notepad.

Self-paced
eBook: $9.99 (Apple BooksAmazon KindleRakuten Kobo)
Paperback: $24.99 (Barnes & NobleAmazonWalmart)
Hardcover: $34.99 (Barnes & NobleWalmart)
Available at all retailers
Buy the Book

Calibration: Rethink everything about companies.

Reality is not the average of popular opinions. Calibration flushes out misinformation about companies, injects a comprehensive model of what companies truly are, and orients you to the only end-to-end method that can positively influence their trajectory. It builds your confidence and rewires your acumen by teaching you the intrinsic nature of companies, empowering you to independently evaluate their present state, and introducing you to the fundamental levers to build and manage a "good" company.

May through June 2025 cohort open
Virtual, live program | Cohort size: 16
4 sessions | 3 hours each | Alternate Wednesdays
Pay upfront: $900 | Pay as you go: $1200
Reserve seat for 3 weeks (refundable): $100
Fit and ROI alignment period: 3 weeks
Hold Seat

Mastery: Learn everything you need to know about companies.

The vast majority of today’s academic information, societal opinions, and common professional practices do not achieve the essence of capitalism or meritocratic institutions, and they do not stand the test of time. Mastery builds on the foundational knowledge offered in Calibration and equips you with the practical skills and nuances to apply every lever of the Congruence method to become a high-impact value creator who leads others in thoughts, decisions, and actions.

Your knowledge about every fundamental component of a company and their dovetailed nature will be supercharged. You will know who around you has the correct knowledge and value-centric intentions. You will understand how to structure and make decisions that efficiently balance the incentives of all stakeholders. You will learn how to translate decisions into reality.

May through July 2025 cohort open
Virtual, live program | Cohort size: 16
10 sessions | 4 hours each | Every Saturday
Pay upfront: $1800 | Pay as you go: $2500
Reserve seat for 3 weeks (refundable): $100
Fit and ROI alignment period: 3 weeks
Hold Seat
WHAT IS THE PLAYMAKER PROGRAM?

An opportunity to embrace the only holistic method for an entire company

Congruence and the Playmaker Program were created as a by-product of addressing major strategic and operational challenges at dozens of companies over 20+ years.

HOW DOES THE PLAYMAKER PROGRAm WORK?

Learn from experts who spend their days solving major company-level challenges

Experienced practitioners do not typically teach. So, you are stuck with academics without real experience and hustlers selling hype. Playmaker Program is created to address this major misinformation problem.

Creator & your Lead Congruence Architect

John Oommen

John’s career has been a search to answer – How must we build and manage a company? 

As an electrical engineer turned business engineer, John rolled up his sleeves and worked with over four dozen publicly traded, private equity, and venture capital companies. He has executed and led turnaround, acquisition, and transformation efforts for two decades seeking to create sustainable value for companies. His expertise is dovetailing a company’s purpose, strategy, and operations. 

To complement his personal and professional experiences in North America, Europe, and Asia, John earned his MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and makes his home in Chicago, Illinois. He is also a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

You will learn from various topical experts

Each expert brings diverse and practical experience in their domain.

Product Expert

Mukesh Pitroda

Senior Director of Product at BenchPrep.
Previously at Nerdery, Tahoe Partners, Tribune Media
Strategy & Finance Expert

Brent Campbell

SVP of Strategy & Corporate Development at Alight.
Previously at Aon, Barclays, Aramark.
General Management Expert

Aaron Gough

Managing Partner, Coastal Mountain Partners.
Previously at Caterpillar, Trexon, Amphenol.
HOW DOES THE PLAYMAKER PROGRAm WORK?

World-class Live Interactive Transformation

The Playmaker Program is an immersive learning experience with proprietary and best-in-class insights and content and a high-caliber cohort.

Live, virtual, interactive sessions.

Cutting edge insights & knowledge.

Deep learning individual assignments

Realistic collaborative simulations

Guest expert practitioners in every session

Proprietary learning content access

Office hours & offline guidance

Continuous growth pathway

Lifetime community of playmakers

HOW DOES THE PLAYMAKER PROGRAm WORK?

Playmaker Program Enrollment Process.

Review the syllabus to explore whether the topics interest you and the required success criteria fit you.
Complete the questionnaire to self-assess OR request a 3-week hold on your seat as you explore fit.
Speak with the creator of Congruence to weigh your expectations against the program requirements.
Once fit is confirmed, enrollment options will be provided.
Immerse yourself in the live virtual program to elevate your real-world impact at the company you care about.
Continue your growth journey in a private, like-minded community as you take on greater challenges.
The Playmaker's Guide to High Value Companies

Congruence

Acumes - Congruence - Book Front-Back-Side 2024-12-19