December 2009

8 steps to better decision-making

It starts with an executive need: a new market evaluation; improve operating margins; a game-changing technology; your competition is eating your lunch. Whatever the reason, a project is how an organization translates an executive strategy. The ability to scope and deliver a project is a competitive advantage. The best organizations realize project management capability as [...]

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Aubrey (Bill) Tobey, President, ACT International

“Toby is a visionary with great creative talents, practical logic, a ‘can do’ positive attitude with excellent management, communications and organizational skills. “As an advisor to the Arctic Group in its efforts, under his management to attract foreign semiconductor manufacturing businesses into the eastern region of Hungary, I was impressed with his brightness, ‘heads-up’ energy, [...]

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Competing values drives your organization out of business

Cultures are characterized by how things are done around here.  Culture is sometimes adopted from the founder, sometimes developed consciously by teams who try to improve performance, and sometimes culture is formed in reaction to a lack of leadership or need for survival. Culture emerges from collective: behavior, values, norms, assumptions, expectations, and process When [...]

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5 tips to manage better meetings

Meetings, meetings, and more meetings. We have meetings to clear up confusion, to communicate, to interact, to make decisions, to listen, and to collaborate. Too many meetings end without clear decisions and too often it is not until after the meeting is finished when the real conversations begin when people: complain about not being heard, [...]

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John Siemiatkoski, Development Manager at ALS Association, Massachusetts Chapter

“The Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (MassBike) has promoted a bicycle-friendly environment and encourages bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation since 1979.  Since I became President of MassBike, I have sought ways to develop the organization’s structure, capacity and effectiveness, so that we can truly achieve our mission. “Toby was recommended to me to help MassBike build [...]

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Gary Lazor, Business Development Director, Booz Allen Hamilton

“Toby is a solid business development and human capacity resource. Toby is easy to work with and has an upbeat personality. As such, he was an effective and supportive colleague, with great listening, interpersonal, and multicultural skills (international experience in Hungary and China as two, very challenging work environments). “I do not hesitate to recommend [...]

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IT failure, too much information in Information Technology

Technology enables information, but why are so many information technology projects failing? 74% of all projects fail, come in over budget, or run past the original deadline* 90% of major Information Technology (IT) project initiatives fail to be completed on time and on budget* A survey by the international consulting firm KPMG finds that 56% [...]

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CSI Music Industry, Part 1: The Crime Scene

First in a series of investigations into the death of the music industry record business. Background: I went to Berklee College of Music as a conducting and arranging major. I switched my major to music business mid-way when I discovered how lawyers and accountants make the major decisions about the music I heard. I wanted [...]

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High 5, the wisdom of Twitter crowds

I have not heard a more savaged social media tool than the negative comments I hear about Twitter. What do I hear time and again about Twitter? “I don’t want to hear that someone is waiting in line for coffee. I don’t care”. My response: if you have boring friends, you have boring conversations. Twitter [...]

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