Michael Putegnat grew up on the border in far south Texas in the 1950's and 60's and returned there after college to continue a family tradition in business and started a computer enterprise.  His election to a local college governing board in the 1980's was a perspective jarring event and led him deep into a conflict pitting radical change against old traditions and power. In a quest to understand how people choose to govern themselves, he studied public policy and administration at the Kennedy School, Harvard University in 1993 and 94. Following, he launched a consultancy for business, government, and non-profits interested in structural change.

     He believes that the roots of his fascination with institutional organization and philosophy derive from his attending Catholic schools from the beginning to his graduation from college.  His father and grandfather were businessmen, his mother a housewife, and the household included two brothers and three sisters.  Married for 35 years, he has three sons and a daughter, each smarter and better looking than the other.

     While it had been a life-long ambition, he wrote his first novel, LAGUNA, in 2005.  He is presently working on his second novel for publication in 2007 and a non-fiction on reasoning errors.  He has chosen the story as the medium for his exploration of the theme of man v. himself v. mankind, partly because it provides greater subtlety and texture to complexity, and partly because he has long been a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Patrick O'Brien, Charles Dickens, and Agatha Christie.

      Michael Putegnat advises government, non-profits, and businesses across the U.S. facing structural change, through his consultancy MP Advising.