Project management for complex systems.

Reading systems, not just managing deadlines.

Gödel, Bateson, Lem and control theory distill into a surprisingly practical PM discipline — with a hard, proven business advantage: recognizing strange loops before they take on a life of their own prevents exactly the kind of delay that sets other projects back by 1.5 to 2 years (case study). The philosophy is not an end in itself — it's the tool for that result. Three convictions carry everything:

Four modules, one framework.

Each module takes one principle and turns it into a concrete tool for your next project.

The cybernetic foundation.

My degree wasn't in business administration, but in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (TU Munich), specializing in cybernetics — control loops, feedback, stability theory (graduated 1991, Module B3). For today's AI and IT landscapes, this school of thought isn't an analogy — it's the right tool: an AI-driven project isn't a linear Gantt chart, it's a dynamic control loop with time-delayed feedback — model drift, delayed user signals, cascading approval loops. Read it as linear planning and you miss the instability until it gets expensive.

From that vantage point, I act as a neutral, non-sycophantic auditor — deliberately against the reflex, in humans and models alike, to talk up progress (anti-sycophancy, i.e. no reflex to agree just to please). A control loop that only confirms what the controller wants to hear has stopped controlling.

The HAL Test as a method.

Three steps, one goal: surface blind spots before they become project risk.

Take the free HAL Test now →

The name "HAL Test" and the concrete implementation of this tool are part of the consulting offering of thomasmartin-pmp.de. A 1:1 copy of the tool for your own commercial purposes is not permitted; for licensing, please get in touch. Results are generated entirely locally in your browser; an evaluation or follow-up contact only happens if you actively share your result via the form (see the privacy notice in the form itself).

Four stages instead of complexity.

From the free check to the engagement — clearly scoped, clearly scheduled.

A PM rulebook built from strange loops.

Eight rules, each distilled from a different intellectual tradition — and interlocking with one another. Rules 2 and 5 themselves form a loop.

The PM Rulebook is an independent thinking tool — distilled from cybernetics, science-fiction thought experiments, and Munger's inversion, not derived from PMI's standards. It complements the PMBOK® Guide & co., not a replacement for them. Since June 2026, The Standard for Artificial Intelligence in Portfolio, Program and Project Management (PMI, ANSI-approved) has been the industry's first global standard for responsible AI use in project management — exactly the field this portal works in.

Thomas Martin

TM

Thomas Martin · PM Mentalist

Project Manager · PMP · PM Mentalist

Dipl.-Ing. (Univ.), Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (TU Munich)

"I see the blind spots everyone else has stopped noticing."

I'm a solution-oriented project manager — specialized in what rarely shows up in a status report: the hidden friction losses caused by the poor usability of established systems (SAP & co.).

My starting point is an uncomfortable observation: systems don't adapt to people — users' brains adapt to the system. Over years, workarounds solidify into habits, until nobody notices anymore how expensive they are.

One example: for years, paid fax transmission was repurposed as a PDF printer — until someone noticed a simple print button would have done the job all along.

I've found such blind spots in almost every project — that's exactly what The Snag-Finder Audit (my Pferdefuß-Audit, in its English positioning) is for. What's new is only the speed: with AI, and without blinkers, I spot these patterns faster — and turn them into concrete improvements. This isn't a matter of style: on a real program, recognizing exactly this kind of hidden strange loop in the approval structure prevented 1.5 to 2 years of project delay — details in the case study.

Four deep dives, one intellectual structure.

If you want to know where the rulebook comes from and how it's applied concretely, the full maps behind it are here.

Three packages, one result.

No day rate, no open-ended clock. All packages are tightly scoped and fixed-term — the fixed price is set from scope and target during the initial call. Offers are addressed exclusively to businesses, public bodies and freelancers (§ 14 BGB).

Fixed price covers the diagnostic phase; implementation optional under a separate quote. Remote or on-site within 200 km of Munich included; beyond that, travel at cost. A free initial call clarifies general feasibility; a fixed-price quote follows, valid 30 days. Payment: 50 % on order, 50 % on delivery of the finding; terms 7 days. The finding is deemed accepted unless objected to within 3 working days.

Executive Summary — Poland-based engagements.

Let's talk about your project.

Got a concrete project problem, or just want to hear if this approach fits your situation? Drop me a line — or we can schedule a first call.