Welcome to our Member Spotlight series, where we proudly showcase the businesses and individuals making a difference in our CityCentral community and beyond. Today we have the pleasure of highlighting the Ravi Verma, founder and CEO of Org Whisperers, operating out of CityCentral Plano.  Join us as we learn more about what led Ravi to start his business, what he finds most rewarding about his work, and what he’s learned about himself and his business along the way.

Tell us a little about your company.

We help software product development organizations maximize value in a way that taps into the wisdom of their teams.

We build customized roadmaps for each unique client context by using a multi-disciplinary approach that integrates ideas from fields like…
– Entrepreneurship
– ROI Based Thinking
– Systems Thinking
– Design Thinking
– GenAI
– Agile Product Management
– Agile Product Delivery
– Executive and Systems Coaching

What led you to start this company?
As with many great stories, the creation of Org Whisperers began through the lens of a child and a deep desire to see change in his world. Our Founder & CEO, Ravi Verma, grew up in Calcutta and remembers the excitement of waiting for his dad to get home from work each day so they could play together. His dad wanted to play, but many times he felt beaten down and drained of all of his energy.

Even though Ravi’s dad was a smart, passionate, hard-working man, the auto manufacturing plant he worked for did not understand how to use his potential. That left him feeling discouraged and unfulfilled, which spilled over into the quality of his home life. As a child, Ravi vowed that he would not let this happen to anyone else’s mom or dad when he grew up.

Ravi’s newfound purpose carried into his adult life as his career in software engineering rapidly advanced into management, where he learned techniques to encourage, develop, and utilize the capabilities of his teams. He found that many organizations struggle to harness the potential of their people, especially in the face of change, stress, and conflict. They unintentionally stifle creativity and shut down unique perspectives.

Unleashing the hidden potential.

Ravi founded Org Whisperers to work with organizations on a deeper level to see the challenges that are causing pain in the hearts of its people and unleash their hidden potential.

The Org Whisperers on our team help our clients align around measurable business and cultural outcomes with assessments, scoreboards, a co-created approach, and a series of controlled experiments utilizing our carefully customized playbooks, tools, training, and coaching.

We love to see the improvement in the way teams, stakeholders, and management collaborate and the resiliency they develop as they face such an unpredictable and uncontrollable world.

Teams increase their accountability, knowledge, and consistency, taking pride in their results. Product Owners become more value-minded and develop a stronger sense of vision and autonomy. Stakeholders have more visibility and provide timely feedback, resulting in higher-quality products for their end users.

Not only do organizations realize success, but their teams go home with joy and plenty of energy left to devote to their families. And that is why we do what we do…

What sets your business apart from your competitors?

We have real-world experience, which allows us to share wisdom from tested experiments to help you avoid crucial mistakes.

Engagements with our clients are not based on something we read or learned in training. Our team has 20+ years of experience in software delivery, training, mentoring, consulting, and executive & team coaching. We’ve earned wisdom from repeated experiments in diverse industries, helping our clients solve real-world problems.

We are outcome-focused, and have a relentless focus on measurable, sustainable business value.

We align teams utilizing data-driven scoreboards, so they can visualize trends and adjust their approach quickly. As certified ROI Professionals focusing on outcome-based learning, we challenge all levels of the organization to tie the knowledge we impart back to sustainable, measurable business goals. We are so serious about this that we have launched our own scoreboard product to make it easier for our clients to succeed.

We realize that organizations are complex and require nuanced approaches to solve their problems. This is why our team doesn’t just rely on ideas from one discipline, but we consistently learn and integrate new ideas from thought leaders in multiple industries. This helps us customize our approach to suit diverse markets, industries, cultures, and preferences.

We walk beside you and co-create an experience catered to your unique challenges!

You won’t get a cookie-cutter approach with us. We begin with an Agility Assessment to gather valuable insights from all levels of accountability on what’s functioning effectively and what needs improvement.

As we uncover the barriers hindering the progress toward your goals, we will blend our unique approach to create a customized roadmap just for your success!

What is something you wish you’d known when you were just starting your business?

1. Listen to your inner voice even if you cannot explain what it is asking you to do at an intellectual level

2. Work with people who set your soul on fire

3. The hardest part of running a business is finding great people to work with

4. Never ever compromise on your ethics, morals or values

5. Be crystal clear about who you are, what you do, why you do it and what are your non-negotiables

6. Use #5 as a litmus test for every single decision

7. You will mess up. When you do, apologize and ask the client how to make it right. Most people will be forgiving.

8. Deliver more than you need to as a way of depositing goodwill into the bank account of the relationship so you can draw from it when #7 happens

9. Design how you will handle difficult situations in the pre-sales conversation

10. Design the exit ramp of the relationship before you get on the entry ramp

What is one unexpected way your business has changed so far in your journey?

Unapologetically leaning into my purpose, values and ethics in a world and dominant culture that does not seem to value any of this.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

The joy of seeing our clients overcome their barrier and fly towards joy and a more fulfilling life.

What is something you have learned about yourself/the industry since starting your business?

About myself – that I have access to wisdom I never knew.

About the industry – it might have lost its way but there are people inside who are searching for their way back.

How has being a part of a coworking community affected you and your business?

Finding community connections and a clean space where I can clear my head and access the best parts of me, free of the clutter of my home-office.

If you could have a conversation over coffee with yourself from 5 years ago, what would you say?

I love you sweetheart. I believe in you. I respect you. I admire you for being who you are in the face of insurmountable odds. You are perfect exactly as you are. Don’t give up. Keep being awesome. Do the right thing and the results will follow. If the results don’t follow, at least you did the right thing.

If you had a friend in town, and you could take them to one of your favorite restaurants or spots in your community, where would you take them?

Pinkberry!

We would like to thank Ravi for his willingness to participate in our Member Spotlight series and to share his journey with us. If you are interested in spotlighting your business with us, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your community manager; we are eager to help elevate your business in any way we can!