June 2010

Charley Matera, Principal, HiComm Consulting

“I have worked with Toby over this past year, 2009 – 2010, on a signicant change management project in which we are both stakeholders. Toby came into this process midstream and immediately provided a fresh perspective on both strategic and operational issues. “His ideas have helped to re-frame the project into a more ambitious and [...]

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Tagged as: change management, Charley Matera, operational issues, project, stakeholders, strategic

Scope or: how to manage projects for organization success; impact analysis template

On my previous post, Scope or: how to manage projects for organization success that included the eBook Scope – Kills Bad Breath and Kills Projects [link below] I introduced the importance of scope before a project launches. The numbers on project failure are sobering: 90% of all projects fail and this post follows up both the blog [...]

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Tagged as: communication, impact, impact analysis, organization development, organization development strategy, portfolio, project management, project work, resistance, resources, risk, scope, scope management, template

Human capital risk, now that’s real risk

You commonly hear an equity firm or VC partner claim, we invest in the people and when it comes to costs, human capital usually represents nearly 70% of all operating costs. Human capital risk is the real risk, but most investment firms don’t focus investment decisions and deal valuation not on quantifying the people or [...]

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Tagged as: competence, emotional, Emotional Intelligence, financial, financial risk, human capital assessment, investment, private equity, risk management, social, VC

Tony Kmetty, Partner, The Hunting Territory Consulting

“I have had the privilege of interacting with Toby in a variety of capacities…first as the Director of his MBA program, then as a colleague as we launch a professional services consulting firm and through the years as a friend and sounding board as he worked with consulting firms and intelligence agencies. “His diverse background [...]

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Tagged as: Arctic Group, Central Europe, consulting, cooperate, cost of culture, Emotional Intelligence, Hungary, opportunity, small business, start-up, startup, succeed, Tony Kmetty, transformation, valuable

Too many links, a pause for delinkification

A couple recent articles around author Nicholas Carr’s writings and thoughts present a negative symptom of hyperlinks, mainly, reduced reader comprehension. Too many hyperlinks or links negatively affect our ability to process and understand. Mr. Carr’s call? Delinkification. Is hyperlinking a hyper waste? Search engine optimization (SEO) aside, for the moment, the whole goal of [...]

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Tagged as: communication, communication saturation, comprehension, hyperlink, search engine optimization, social media marketing

It’s true, your boss is a psychopath – UNCOMMON KNOWLEDGE?

From the weekly, always insightful, Boston Globe Ideas Section, I give you this week’s UNCOMMON KNOWLEDGE [their capitalization, not mine]. This section usually provides a hodge-podge of nuggets from the social sciences. This week’s lead: It’s true, your boss is a psychopath Watching the news some days, you’d think a lot of companies were run by [...]

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Tagged as: Boston Globe, Cornell HR Review, employment, human resources, management, skills, The Atlantic

Scope or: how to manage projects for organization success, part 1

Organizations rely on projects to remain competitive. Projects are the way organizations deliver and realize their executive strategies. The ability to deliver a project is the ability to compete. Scope kills projects and projects that are not delivered kill organizations. Scope is one of the most important ways to manage project success. And when projects [...]

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Tagged as: communication, organization development, portfolio, project management, project work, resistance, resources, risk, scope, scope management, strategy

The Unemployed Will Not Be Considered – 3 Views

This morning I read something that made me hold my, very hot, coffee in my mouth longer than I expected as I processed their information. Laura Bassett of the Huffington Post reports “Disturbing Job Ads: The Unemployed Will Not Be Considered“. Ms. Bassett comments on a job board search for quality engineer that notes states: [...]

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Tagged as: employment, human resources, job, job competency, recruiting, risk, talent

Michele Simos, President, Simos Consulting

“When I needed a social networking presence, I turned to Toby. He helped identify my needs, analyze my goals and audience and quickly turned that information into an action plan. “He has supported me every step of the way. “He has the patience of a saint, the intuition of a sage and the knowledge of [...]

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Tagged as: action plan, consulting, goals, information, Michele Simos, small business, social networking, start-up, startup

Low risk, low return human resources

My 11-odd-years in business and talent management consulting [the other 9 in marketing] have shown a few disturbing trends that I see from most poorly-run companies. These type of organizations, across all industries, ascribe to, what they believe is a low risk strategy, but in reality it is a low return strategy for human resources: [...]

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Tagged as: diversity, innovation, interview, job competency, job description, knowledge, recruiting, return on talent, risk management, skills, strategy

5 reasons human resources hurt consumer brands

Every person connected to your organization is in sales and marketing. Each interaction anyone connected to your company, your government agency, your non-profit, or your university has with the anyone is an interaction with your brand. Every interaction with a vendor, supplier, or competitor is as important as an interaction with a potential customer. At [...]

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Tagged as: applicant, consumer brand, customer, employment, finance, human resources, Marketing, sales, talent assessment

Stephen Cummings, Owner, Insights

“Toby exemplifies the next generational leadership that is shaping the future. He has an amazing ability to get to the crux of the matter quickly. When you combine this with his ability to astutely understand the needs of each client you will understand how he has become a trusted partner to senior leaders. He works [...]

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Tagged as: consulting, growth, leadership, learning, organization change, small business, social media, start-up, startup, Stephen Cummings, transformation, trusted partner

The Great Spare-Time Revolution

Free time, spare time, where to find any time? Here’s a staggering thought for those who feel they have no spare time: it is estimated all the Wikipedia articles, edits, and arguments about articles and edits represent around 100 million hours of human labor. 100 million hours! Where do people find that time for a [...]

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Tagged as: Clay Shirky, Daniel Pink, leader, leadership, manage, motivate, motivation, time

Quick Bio

Toby Elwin has lived around the world and worked globally with, and for, some of the most highly-respected leaders and organizations in their fields.

This site, and thoughts, are rooted in the role leadership and talent have on an organization's motivation to influence, achieve, and sustain.

Toby's work combines systems theory, organization development, marketing, and portfolio and project management from more than 15 years in post-merger integration.
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Blog Archives
Biggest Influences – So Far

See Influence page for more detail:

The Modern Firm: Organizational Design for Performance and Growth by John Roberts

The Workforce Scorecard by Mark A. Huselid, Brian E. Becker, and Richard W. Beatty

Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter L. Bernstein

The Future of Ideas by Lawrence Lessig

The Truth About Thriving in Change by William S. Kane

The Motivation to Work by Frederick Herzberg, Bernard Mausner, and Barbara Bloch Snyderman

The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott

Working with Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

The HR Value Proposition by Dave Ulrich

The Strategy Paradox by Michael Raynor
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Toby Elwin organization talent, change, and leadership

June 2010

Charley Matera, Principal, HiComm Consulting

Scope or: how to manage projects for organization success; impact analysis template

Tony Kmetty, Partner, The Hunting Territory Consulting

It’s true, your boss is a psychopath – UNCOMMON KNOWLEDGE?

Scope or: how to manage projects for organization success, part 1

The Unemployed Will Not Be Considered – 3 Views

Low risk, low return human resources

5 reasons human resources hurt consumer brands

The Great Spare-Time Revolution

Quick Bio

Stay Current

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Biggest Influences – So Far

7 Most Recent Blogs

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