SERVICES - FAQ
1. What topics do you speak on?
I deliver one core keynote built around The Ability Curve Model™, a modern framework that replaces outdated “able-bodied vs. disabled” thinking with a dynamic capability-based model that applies across HR, leadership, product design, aging, safety, and organizational effectiveness.
2. How long is your talk?
I offer two standard formats:
• 60-Minute Keynote: ~45 minutes content + ~15 minutes Q&A
• 90-Minute Session: ~60 minutes content + ~30 minutes Q&A
Timing is flexible depending on your event needs.
3. Do you offer virtual presentations?
Yes. The talk works well in virtual or hybrid settings.
4. Do you participate in panels or moderated discussions?
Absolutely. I regularly sit as a panelist or in fireside-style conversations on innovation, aging, capability modeling, independence, and adaptive design.
5. Do you offer breakout sessions or workshops?
I’m open to developing customized breakouts depending on the event. These may involve additional preparation fees.
6. What are your speaking fees?
• $1,500 for a 60-minute keynote
• $2,000 for a 90-minute session
Discounts are available depending on audience type, mission alignment, nonprofit status, or multi-session bookings. Customization beyond the standard keynote is billed separately.
7. What about travel costs?
Events outside the Chicago/Midwest region require travel reimbursement in addition to the speaking fee. National or international travel is billed at actual cost.
8. Where do you speak?
Primarily in the Midwest, but available nationwide or internationally with travel covered.
9. What is the booking process?
A simple three-step process:
-
Inquiry – You share event details, goals, and preferred dates.
-
Discovery Call – We confirm alignment and outcomes.
-
Agreement & Confirmation – Your date is secured.
A scheduling link will be provided on the site.
10. Do you require any special A/V setup?
Standard projector, display, and microphone are sufficient. I can adapt to TED-style, interview-style, or venue-specific formats.
11. Can the talk be tailored to our industry or audience?
Yes. Light customization is included.
Deeper customization—including industry-specific modeling, interviews, or internal data—may involve additional preparation fees.
12. Do you allow recording?
Yes, with prior agreement. Public distribution or external use requires additional permission.
13. Do you offer discounts for nonprofits, aging-services groups, disability organizations, or veterans’ groups?
Yes. Because my work aligns closely with these missions, reduced pricing is available for qualifying organizations.
14. We’re not sure the topic fits. Can we talk it through?
Absolutely. The fit call exists for this exact purpose. Most planners find strong alignment once we discuss your goals and audience needs.
ABILITY CURVE MODEL™ — FAQ
1. What is the Ability Curve Model?
The Ability Curve Model is a 0–10 scoring framework that measures functional capability—strength, dexterity, coordination, and mobility—rather than labeling people as “disabled” or “able-bodied.” It reflects how real people function across age, injury, fatigue, illness, and everyday conditions.
2. Why did you create the Ability Curve?
I created the model because the binary disabled/able-bodied classification is inaccurate and unhelpful. It hides the fact that ability changes gradually over time and across situations. The Curve offers a clearer, more honest way to design products, assign tasks, and make decisions based on actual capability, not labels.
3. How does the scoring system work?
The model uses a simple 0–10 scale:
-
10 = full capability
-
7–9 = moderate decline
-
4–6 = significant difficulty
-
1–3 = severe impairment
-
0 = no functional ability
-
This makes it easy to compare needs across conditions without relying on medical diagnoses.
4. Why is this better than diagnosing disabilities?
Designing around diagnosis is misleading. Two people with different diagnoses can have identical functional limitations. What matters for product design and task evaluation is symptoms—not labels. The Ability Curve focuses on:
-
grip strength
-
coordination
-
reach
-
fatigue
-
dexterity
-
posture
-
task conditions
That produces more accurate, usable decisions.
5. How does the Ability Curve help with aging?
The model includes a baseline, age-based decline curve that shows how capability naturally changes across decades. This makes it easy to design tools or workflows that support:
-
aging workers
-
independent seniors
-
people experiencing early strength or dexterity loss
-
long-term ergonomic needs
It turns aging variability into actionable insight.
6. Can the Ability Curve really expand markets?
Yes. When you map ability curves for arthritis, MS, Down syndrome, aging, injury, and fatigue, you find overlapping symptoms. Those overlaps represent stacked markets—large combined audiences united by common functional needs.
Companies dramatically underestimate these markets when they rely on the disability label alone.
7. How is the Ability Curve used in product design?
It helps teams identify:
-
which capabilities break down
-
where force, reach, or control are lost
-
which design changes restore function
-
which features matter for different age or ability groups
The Curve guided the creation of the NULU knife by highlighting where traditional knife geometry fails users experiencing strength loss, dexterity issues, or seated posture constraints.
8. How does this framework help workplaces?
Organizations use the Ability Curve to:
-
match tasks to capability
-
reduce injury risk
-
retain aging workers
-
improve training and safety
-
adapt roles instead of losing talent
-
It provides a nonjudgmental way to assess whether someone can safely and effectively perform a task under real conditions.
9. How is this different from ergonomics?
Ergonomics optimizes for the average user. The Ability Curve optimizes for the actual user—across the full range of human variance, including those with reduced ability, temporary injury, or declining strength.
It’s a more flexible, modern tool that complements ergonomic thinking rather than replacing it.
10. Can companies implement their own version of the Ability Curve?
Yes. The model is designed to be:
-
simple
-
universal
-
customizable
-
data-friendly
-
cross-functional
Any organization can tailor scoring to its tools, operations, or users while keeping the core principles intact.
11. Is this model only for people with disabilities?
Not at all. The Curve is built for:
-
seniors
-
caregivers
-
people with temporary injuries
-
workers experiencing fatigue
-
people cooking or working while seated
-
anyone whose capability fluctuates during daily life
It reframes ability as a spectrum everyone moves along—not a fixed status.
12. How does this apply to your inventions like NULU and Golfresco?
NULU and Golfresco were created by identifying capability breakdown points:
-
where force, grip, or reach degrade
-
how posture affects control
-
how aging changes task execution
-
which motions are hardest for people across conditions
The Ability Curve gives me the blueprint to design products that deliver more value with fewer steps, less strain, and better mechanics.
13. What industries benefit the most from this model?
-
Product design & R&D
-
Universal and adaptive design
-
Healthcare & rehabilitation
-
Senior living & aging services
-
HR, safety, and workforce development
-
Hospitality & food service
-
Occupational ergonomics
-
Consumer goods innovation
Any environment involving human capability can benefit.
14. Do you teach this model to organizations?
Yes. I offer:
-
keynotes
-
workshops
-
executive briefings
-
design consultations
-
applied capability-mapping sessions
Organizations use these sessions to integrate the Ability Curve into product lines, workflows, hiring, or safety processes.
15. What’s the biggest misconception about human ability?
That you either “can do something” or “can’t.”
In reality, capability is dynamic. People move up and down the curve throughout their lives—and often throughout a single day.
When we design for that reality, we unlock independence, productivity, safety, and massive untapped markets.
TASK, CONDITION AND STANDARD — FAQ
1. What is the Task–Condition–Standard (TCS) Model?
The TCS Model is a clear, objective framework originally developed to define human performance. It breaks any activity into three parts:
-
Task: What needs to be done
-
Condition: Under what circumstances the task must be performedsful performance looks like
-
Standard: What succes
This removes ambiguity, assumptions, and bias from evaluating capability.
2. How have you modified TCS for the Ability Curve Model?
I expanded the “Condition” category to include variables that dramatically affect real-world human performance, such as aging, fatigue, injury, posture (seated vs. standing), environment, and sensory limitations.
This turns TCS into a dynamic capability model rather than a static checklist.
Why is TCS a better approach than traditional “able-bodied vs. disabled” thinking?
Because it evaluates capability in context, not identity.
Ability fluctuates based on conditions — and the traditional binary ignores this. TCS describes what someone can do under realistic conditions, not what category they fall into.
3. What kinds of problems does the TCS Model help solve?
-
Hiring and task-matching
-
Accommodation decisions
-
Product and tool design
-
Workforce aging challenges
-
Safety planning
-
Return-to-work transitions
-
Ergonomics and accessibility
It gives leaders clear, unbiased visibility into real human capability.
4. What types of tasks can be evaluated with TCS?
Practically anything:
-
Physical tasks (lifting, reaching, carrying)
-
Fine-motor tasks (gripping, cutting, handling tools)
-
Cognitive tasks (decision-making, attention, sequencing)
-
Sensory tasks (vision, hearing)
-
Environmental tasks (navigation, stability, noise)
If a person needs to do it, TCS can model it.
5. How do Conditions impact ability in the model?
Conditions act as multipliers.
A person may score differently depending on:
-
Fatigue
-
Age
-
Environmental difficulty
-
Range of motion
-
Lighting
-
Whether they’re seated
-
Sensory challenges
This creates realistic, situational assessments instead of fixed labels.
6. How does TCS connect to the Ability Curve Model?
The TCS Model defines the task and environment, while the Ability Curve measures capability across those conditions.
Together, they provide a universal language for ability and performance.
7. How does the Standard component work?
Standards define measurable outcomes. Examples:
-
“Lift 20 lbs to shoulder height.”
-
“Cut vegetables into 1-inch pieces within 2 minutes.”
-
“Input data with 95% accuracy.”
Standards eliminate subjectivity and allow capability comparisons across individuals.
8. Can TCS be used to redesign jobs or workflows?
Yes — and it’s one of its most powerful uses.
TCS makes friction visible. This helps organizations redesign tasks, tools, environments, and workflows to fit real human capability rather than outdated assumptions.
9. How does TCS support universal and adaptive design?
By identifying which Conditions make tasks difficult, TCS reveals when the design is the limiting factor — not the person.
This helps creators build tools and environments that adapt to people instead of forcing people to adapt to tools.
10. Is TCS only relevant to people with limitations or disabilities?
Not at all.
Everyone experiences variability in capability due to fatigue, posture, aging, injury, environment, stress, and ergonomics.
TCS is a universal human model, not a medical one.
11. Which industries can use TCS?
-
HR and workforce planning
-
Manufacturing
-
Healthcare
-
Product design
-
Aging services
-
Safety and risk
-
Hospitality and food service
-
Education and training
-
Any field involving human performance benefits from TCS.
12. Can TCS support hiring or return-to-work decisions?
Yes — responsibly.
TCS helps employers match people to the right tasks, identify supportive tools, and design safer workflows. It is not intended to exclude — but rather to clarify and support.
13. Why is the TCS Model especially important today?
Aging populations, chronic conditions, labor shortages, and the rise of inclusive design make the old binary ability paradigm obsolete.
Organizations need capability intelligence to stay productive, inclusive, and competitive.
14. Do you teach organizations how to use the TCS Model?
Yes.
The keynote includes practical tools, and deeper training or workshops can be added depending on the organization’s needs.
15. Does the TCS Model come from the U.S. Army?
Yes.
The original TCS structure comes from the U.S. Army, where I learned it firsthand as a West Point graduate and officer.
The military used TCS to define mission-critical performance clearly and consistently:
-
Task: the action
-
Condition: the environment
-
Standard: the expected outcome
-
The Army version focused on battlefield and training scenarios.
I expanded it significantly for civilian use — adding human variability, sensory factors, ergonomics, aging, seated posture, and health-related conditions — creating a modern, inclusive, and universally applicable model.