Heidi Helfand
Author of Dynamic Reteaming: The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams (2nd edition); consultant, workshop facilitator, and speaker on org change and reteaming. Trained as a co-active coach (Co-Active Training Institute).
Spent twenty years in SaaS startups: 15th employee at Expertcity (GoToMyPC, GoToMeeting, GoToWebinar — started as a navigation designer, became an interaction designer and later technical project manager); 10th employee at AppFolio (ran hack days, “unofficial director of fun,” helped introduce pairing and test-driven development). Degree in teaching English and applied linguistics (Paulo Freire influence). Based in Southern California. Side interest in vintage cashmere and antique hunting (Berlin, London, Santa Barbara thrift stores). Reaches her at heidihelfand.com.
Known for: the five-pattern reteaming taxonomy (one by one, grow and split, merging, isolation, switching); the whiteboard reteaming approach for transparent org change; the RIDE framework (credited to Pat Wadors); the isolation-pattern checklist; the spreading-high-performers anti-pattern; and the insight that switching builds knowledge redundancy before crises demand it.