We help leaders see what they are too close to see.
Imagine That Performance works with city managers, county administrators, and the teams they lead. The Shift That Sticks was built with government leaders, who answer to the most demanding transparency and accountability requirements of any sector. Clarity that holds under that scrutiny holds anywhere.
What We Observed
Effective leaders have always practiced one discipline: face what is true, commit to what matters, and build the systems that sustain both. The past few years made that discipline visible to everyone.
Since 2020, Rob Duncan has facilitated confidential peer conversations with city managers and county administrators across the country. The sessions began as a free hour during pandemic burnout and became a standing community. The situations that came up in room after room became a method.
Some leaders came through the disruption better than others, and they were not the smartest or the most experienced. They were the leaders who saw their environment clearly and adapted without abandoning what mattered. They built ways to face hard truths. They made it safe for a problem to be raised early. They found meaning in work that others found overwhelming.
The Shift That Sticks names what those leaders do. Imagine That Performance did not invent the practice. Rob recognized a pattern that effective leaders have always followed and gave it language a leader can learn and a team can use.
Our Just Cause
Every leader deserves clarity about what matters, and the capability to act on it stays with their team after we leave.
The method is built to transfer. Every engagement leaves capability with the team, and the tools work without a facilitator in the room.
The peer community carries on between engagements. Imagine That Performance measures success by what the organization can do after the engagement, not during it.
The Methodology
The Shift That Sticks is a way of staying aligned with what matters. The method rests on one observation: leadership that lasts means seeing clearly before acting, deciding what matters under pressure, building systems that carry the decision without willpower, and reinforcing it over time.
The discipline is the same for an organization working through a disruption, for one sustaining what already works, and for one leader working out what to do next.
The method draws on research in organizational psychology, behavioral science, and leadership development. Hundreds of conversations with practitioners refined it into what works in the field.
Face the Truth
Define What Matters
Make It Real
Reinforce the Change
How We Work
Think Tanks
Think Tanks put city managers and county administrators in a confidential room with eight to twelve peers who carry the same weight. The group meets monthly for ninety minutes, the same people month after month, and works one member’s live decision each session. Every member carries questions back to their own team, and Think Tank Pro adds a quarterly session on how each member leads.
Services
Seven ways to work with Imagine That Performance, each built on The Shift That Sticks: Set the Direction, the Leadership Team Workshop, the Face the Truth Workshop, Culture by Design, Executive Coaching with a coach matched to the situation, Think Tanks, and Consulting Services. Every engagement is designed to end, with the capability staying with the organization.
Resources
Tools built to work on their own: the Shift Mirror, the Shift Assessment, and The Shift That Sticks as a book, forthcoming in 2026. Each one carries the method without a facilitator in the room.
Founder & Principal
Rob Duncan
Rob believes practitioners already have the wisdom they need. His work is creating conditions where they can access it.
Before focusing on government, Rob spent over 16 years in Fortune 500 companies, rebuilt a $10M business through crisis and culture reconstruction, and was recruited to facilitate peer advisory groups for business leaders. He chose to focus on government because public sector leaders face the most demanding transparency and accountability requirements. If a methodology creates clarity there, it works anywhere.
Since founding Imagine That Performance in July 2020, Rob has facilitated over 250 Think Tank sessions with city managers and county administrators nationwide. The patterns that emerged became The Shift That Sticks, a framework for staying aligned with what matters.
Rob served as Interim Town Manager for Kenneth City, Florida, giving him firsthand experience with what the role actually demands. He’s authored the Local Government Companion Guide to the 2025 World Happiness Report and is completing The Shift That Sticks, forthcoming in 2026.
Rob Duncan takes the first conversation himself. Thirty minutes on the situation and whether working together makes sense.
If not, he says so and points to a more useful next step.
Or send a note instead
813-699-9614
Based in Tampa, FL · Serving leaders who value clarity