About Us
With decades of extensive expertise in high–stakes, safety-critical, software-intensive engineering systems, we don’t just improve skills, we transform people’s attitudes and behaviors, fundamentally changing individuals into catalysts for profound change.
At Exceptional Difference We Believe…
One person can change a team and one team can change an organization. In fact, that’s the only way change happens.
Value is the lens through which engineers see the world. We relentlessly focus on value and hold ourselves and our clients to a high standard.
It’s not enough for engineers and leaders to simply know the right thing to do—they must also have the courage and conviction to do those right things.
Engineers have a moral responsibility to deliver the Obligations of Engineering of value, quality, and speed-to-value while using data and meeting or beating commitments.
People are every team’s greatest asset. Organizations need to own this concept to create a Culture of Excellence where everyone thrives.
Engineers deserve to take great joy in their craft as they innovate and create value.
Meet the People Behind Exceptional Difference
Julia Mullaney, CEO
Julia@execptionaldiffeence.com
With a commitment to changing the world of software engineering, Julia Mullaney, a co-founder of Exceptional Difference, is an award-winning engineer, instructor, leader, and consultant who has worked with software companies in many industries across the globe.
While at IBM, Mullaney was instrumental in process improvement efforts and had a major role in defining and implementing defect prevention. At the Software Engineering Institute (SEI,) Mullaney was a key contributor to the Personal Software Process (PSP) and Team Software Process (TSP) through the development of training, certification, licensing, and applied research at leading software organizations. She is a Certified Smart Grid Maturity Model (SGMM) Navigator, PSP Developer and TSP Coach, and served as Chairperson of the IEEE/ SEI Watts Humphrey Software Process Achievement award from 2018 to 2020.
Alan Willett, Chief Engineer
Expert consultant, speaker, and award-winning author of Leading the Unleadable: How to Manage Cynics, Divas, and Other Difficult People, and Lead With Speed, Alan Willett is co-founder of Exceptional Difference. Alan works with clients around the world, including the UK, Turkey, South Africa, China, India, Canada, and Mexico, and of course, throughout the United States.
For more than two decades Alan Willett has consulted to HP, Oracle, Microsoft, NASA, General Motors, Intuit, NAVAIR, Orbital ATK, OnStar, Cornell University, Rutgers University, Technological de Monterrey, Acxiom, and many more. Alan’s passionate work has focused on leadership, with laser focus on the unique challenges of leading in the elevated pressure environments of high-technology developments.
David VanEpps, Chief Operating Officer
dave@exceptionaldifference.com
Impact and amplification. These are the tenets that inspire David VanEpps in his work as Chief Operating Officer at Exceptional Difference. Through his work, he seeks to ignite technical teams to deliver breakthrough results, champion efforts to grow high-performing organizations, and create a culture of empowerment designed to attract and retain top talent. It’s his ambition that the positive impact of the Exceptional Difference programming can be amplified by alumni and ripple through their respective organizations as they take these concepts and put them into practice.
As COO, David employs a motivational approach to leadership, seeking to bring out the best in those around him and enhance their ability to rapidly deliver value. He strives to simultaneously delight engineers, end users, and other key stakeholders by bridging the business-technology gap to simplify complex concepts into digestible components and actionable requirements.