Our Story

As a people leader, I have built teams and have developed individuals for 20+ years around the world. Here is what I have learned, “Though People are the core of every business, People development is not the core business for most”.  My workdays were full of meetings and projects and chasing targets and, I never had enough time to think and develop all my people.

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So, I did the next best possible thing… I picked and chose a few instead of all capable individuals.  Those whom I didn’t pick, felt left out, disengaged, and anxious. 

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Even for the ones I chose, despite spending time and money, there were three repeating challenges with available development resources and tools, namely, lack of individualization, lack of verifiable results, and lack of sustainability of learnings. How to overcome these shortcomings and still leverage the outside resources effectively?  This has been a key question on my mind for the good part of the last decade. 

 

My wife, Seemantini, a professor in business school, introduced me to the powerful frameworks of Peer-Based Behavior Modification. Successfully used in academia since 2000, we want to bring them  (and other scientific approaches from Neuroscience, Psychology, Operations Management and AI/ML) to the industry as a scalable and effective approach to professional development.  I have personally tested them with outstanding results on multiple professionals. 

 

Series of casual conversations over coffee sessions have turned into a start-up adventure for us!  We are excited to introduce PB JAM – a capable science-based online platform for individualized professional development with verifiable outcomes and sustainability. The name PB JAM has dual meanings, the first one is the quintessential comfort food of peanut butter and jam sandwich, the feelings of safety and joy and anticipation.  The second one comes from our initial client experiences.  As the groups were progressing, we observed that participants liked to engage beyond the weekly sessions with each other.  At one session, we heard a participant comment, " This is just like the jamming sessions I remember with my buddies in the garage, full of a-ha moments and joy".  And there, the second meaning stands for Peer-Based Jamming sessions where participants build clarity around their professional needs and work on creating a better version of themselves! 

 

Join us in our adventure and experience for yourself!

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Prasad V Saraph

Curious Co-founder at PB JAM

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Engage . Grow . Thrive – PeerPower@work