We are researchers and applied problems solvers. We rely on both science and craft. Our work is very knowledge-intensive and demands a lot of particular kinds of experience. It's the kind of experience that is rare and only available at the thinly populated, leading edge of workplace change. This is "hands-on, in the trenches, asking-listening-watching-learning, skeptical-opportunistic-creative, content-intensive" work for which very few people are well suited.

So, HERO is a tightly knit group of very few intensely and uniquely experienced folks who carefully craft and deliver an amazing volume of big results from our suburban Chicago base. While our work has fundamental impact on the design of workplaces, we are not a design practice. We are a research-based, consulting practice focused on the performance of people at work - the convergence of their behaviors, tools, processes, practices, technologies and workplaces. We develop and test prototypical ideas and concepts to yield practical, effective, high-performance solutions that designers and architects can then implement, with our input and guidance.

HERO's founder and leader is Tim Springer. He's a serious guy with some heavyweight credentials, but he manages to hide it well. He enjoys sharing his passion while teaching and learning from others. He applies his significant experience and expertise to our projects and infuses our team and our work with his spirit of fun and "serious play".