Bruce Piasecki is a distinguished leader in corporate consulting, recognized globally for his expertise in energy, materials, and environmental corporate strategies. As the President and Founder of AHC Group, Inc., a management consulting firm with a client roster that includes industry giants such as Suncor Energy, the Warren Buffett firm Shaw Industries, Walgreens Boots Alliance, bp, and Toyota, Bruce Piasecki and his teams have advised companies on pivotal issues since 1981.
Bruce Piasecki, since his youth, is also a prolific author, having penned several seminal works on business strategy, corporate change, and valuation. His book, In Search of Environmental Excellence: Moving Beyond Blame, was selected in 1990 as the Nature Society’s book of the year and stands as a cornerstone in the discourse on environmental responsibility. His recent bestseller—DOING MORE WITH LESS—became a bestseller on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. For a sportive rendering on that titles travels around the world see www.thedoingmorewithlessguy.com
For over four decades, Piasecki has been both change agent and book writer. His work has not only shaped corporate practices in business and government but also set new standards for excellence in these critical areas. Under his guidance, AHC Group continues to lead in advising top-tier companies on how to effectively balance profitability with social responsibility and environmental stewardship with the help of law firms run by Chris Carr and Ira Feldman, both of Washington DC.
With the Scott Meredith Literary Agency advising AHC Group and Piasecki on publishing matters (see www.scottmeredith.com) , his thought leadership reaches a broad audience, influencing the next generation of corporate leaders and policymakers. Meredith agency has placed over 23,000 books ranging from Michael Bloomberg and Bill Bradley to deceased legends like Winston Church and R. D. Salinger.
The Journey
He was born in 1955 on Long Island to Walter and Lillian Piasecki, both second-generation Polish immigrants from working-class backgrounds. During the 1970s, Bruce excelled as an All-League One Basketball star, earning scholarships that led him to the University of Maryland, where he played Big 10 basketball during two summers at ages 16 and 17, significantly hurting his right knew. Eventually, he accepted a full scholarship to Cornell University, where he stayed to teach while completing his Ph.D. Since he has had both knees replaced, but he says: “If given the chance to compete, I’d do it all again. I loved the teamwork, the shots, and the chance to control the tempo of the game.” When I ran my firm, it much like a basketball game.
In the 1980s, Dr. Piasecki published his first books focused on technical and innovation matters, which earned him tenure at Clarkson University and later at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York. The 1990s marked his entry into commercial publishing, with his first book published by Simon & Schuster, gaining widespread reach through Rodale and Quality Paperback Editions. During this time, he sold his first commercial magazine to Elsevier Science in England and converted some of its content into a book titled Corporate Environmental Strategy for John Wiley & Sons. This work would eventually lead to a New York Times bestseller published by John Wiley & Sons by 2014.
In the late 1990s, Dr. Piasecki began working with Toyota on innovation across various units, specifically developing the Hybrid Powertrain. His role as an advisor and consultant with key lawyers and executives at Toyota led him to leave his tenured position at RPI to focus on writing and building the AHC Group into a larger corporate advisory firm.
By 2010, Dr. Piasecki began advising Walgreens, which was later acquired by the British client Alliance Boots. For the next decade, he ran their change management councils. As his career continued to evolve, he began working on several small biographies of notable figures like Eileen Fisher and John Streur. In 2020, a new agency, Scott Meredith Literary Agency, signed him, and they began working on evergreen editions of his memoirs, wealth books, and a collection of biographies set to be released between 2022 and 2025.
Principles Can Transform Professional Growth
Dr. Piasecki advises young readers to abandon self-centeredness and focus on making efficient use of time, energy, and resources. He emphasizes that true leaders understand the difference between playing hurt and playing hard, gaining more value from social capital than financial wealth. His works are alive with social history, historical lessons, and big personalities. Impactful figures like Franklin, Gandhi, and Lincoln are found in his practice and in his books. He stresses the importance of recognizing the value of a social network, noting that those who overlook it are missing a crucial advantage. For success, Dr. Piasecki advocates aligning money, people, and rules within teams, setting clear objectives for fair competition, and then refining performance. He believes that this approach is essential for effective and swift onboarding in today’s fast-paced world. All of this told in his books for John Wiley, Doing More with Teams, and the bestseller Doing More with Less.
Dr. Piasecki also highlights the importance of human judgment, noting that when decisions are made with a focus on social value, they become balanced and beneficial across personal and professional spheres. While some psychologists might argue that human judgment can falter under stress, Piasecki points to behavioral economics, which shows that ignorance and denial of historical changes lead to poor decisions. He concludes that the key to consistently good judgment in today’s fast-paced and challenging world lies in practicing “creative frugality.”
What people says
“I have known Bruce Piasecki for five years…Bruce possesses all the necessary abilities and skills of an outstanding student, but he is exceptional in that I suspect in him motivations deeper than the surface level of a particular work; that is, the personal quest in him is all-pervasive and unremitting, so that he can be counted on to puruse his abiding interests by whatever means. He can be helped but not deterred.”
“Helped but not deterred” – Archive Ammons
“Bruce Piasecki might well be the most interesting writer in the field of business today, in large part because he brings the perspective of a humanist with broad literary training to the table, as in this compelling book about working in teams. Only together do we, as the human race, move forward. This is true in all aspects of life, but especially in business. An inspired and inspiring book.” – Jay Parini bestselling author of The Last Station and The Passages of H.M.
“A wonderful book of Bruce’s extraordinary life, with each anecdote and interaction full of meaning. It is written in Bruce’s typically playful style and puts the man and his works into a vibrant context. Having worked with Bruce for almost a decade now, I thought I knew him pretty well – but this book does more than fill in the gaps – it explains his motivation and passion for social justice in an increasingly polarised world.” – Dr. Dominic Emery former Chief of Staff, bp
“Piascki provides a message for our carbon- and capital-constrained world. Clever and informed, his nineteenth book delivers an urgent, articulate call for a future that is at once frugal and fulfilling, and, most importantly, sustainable.” – Paul Grondahl Director of the NYS Writers Institute at the University at Albany, and author of several books
