INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS
New England Chapter

News and Views

In this issue:

Upcoming Events

News from
the Board

IMCNE Members
in Print

IMCNE Member Appearances

IMCNE Member Profiles
Jeff Govendo
Linda Watson
Neil Wasserman

Business Book Reviews
The Starfish
& The Spider
and
Made to Stick

Share Your News

Upcoming Events

Friday, March 2, 2007
Consultants Roundtable
Are You and Ethical Consultant?
Rebecca's Café, Waltham, MA
8:00 a.m.

We are going to hold a live session based on IMC’s on-line ethics simulations. If you have ever done this type of exercise, you know that many dilemmas have a black, a white and a gray component. Come and learn through conversations about the simulation cases how to navigate these challenging situations and uphold the high standards set by IMC for all its members.

We are organizing this for our CMC Candidates to help them prepare for their written and oral ethics exams. But we welcome any and all consultants to this stimulating exercise.

This meeting will be facilitated by Brooks Fenno, CMC, Past President o IMCNE and our current VP of CMC Development, and Mary Adams, CMC, President of IMCNE.

You may purchase breakfast at the Café.

For more information or to register, visit www.imcne.org

The internet flattened the world. If you thought that was revolutionary, you haven’t looked at Web 2.0. This next generation of the Web is being fueled by technologies—like blogs, wiki’s, and podcasts—that are bringing power to the people. These technologies make it simpler than ever to reach a broad audience. That’s great news for the boutique consulting firms in our IMCNE community. It’s also great news for our clients. The only question is, will you show your clients the way or will someone else?

Join us to learn how you can be a leader in your market and harness the power of Web 2.0. You’ll hear from and discuss with an exciting panel of experts who have already helped their own businesses and those of countless clients—and will show you how we can enjoy similar success.

Bonus Workshop 5:00 p.m.
Using Assessment Tools to Generate Revenue and Add-on Business

INVITE YOUR CLIENTS TOO! You can provide value for your clients by inviting them to attend this exciting program. Many of our board members are inviting their clients (who may be interested in the bonus workshop as well—if not, have your clients arrive at 6:00 sharp)—don’t be left out!

For more information or to register, visit www.imcne.org

It is about the “who” not the “what.” It is always about serving people, not selling products and services. Lewis Green will lead this discussion and focus on creating great customer experiences, building customer loyalty and differentiating our businesses by being known for our customer and client experiences.

Lewis Green, Founder and Managing Principal of L&G Business Solutions, LLC, http://www.l-gsolutions.com brings three decades of business management experience.

Walk-ins are welcome and you may purchase lunch at the Café.

For more information or to register, visit www.imcne.org

News from the Board

Survey Results:   If you are interested in the results of our recent membership survey, please click here to read the summary of the findings in our Board minutes from 2/9/07: Survey Summary (Acrobat PDF file - 29kb). The full data is available to the membership but will not be posted on the Internet. If you’re interested in receiving a copy, contact Mary Adams, .  

Powerful Conversations:   Our new Consultant Roundtable format is off to a great start. We already have some great topics teed up for the spring (Innovation with Jeff Govendo, Ethics with CMC Chair Brooks Fenno, and Great Customer Experiences with Lewis Green). But we are still looking to shine the light on the expertise of more of our members. 

Have you read a good business book lately? Do you have a question that you would love to ask a group of consultants? Are you one of our New England members that is tired of all our meetings being held in Boston ? Do you have a challenge that you are facing and would like to get feedback? Do you have a case study that would fuel a good discussion? THEN USE THIS RESOURCE!! 

It takes about three minutes to fill out a Roundtable Proposal. You give us a title and description; we’ll publicize it and handle registrations. This program helps our members Get Smart, Get Known, Get Business.  What are you waiting for?  Download the form today from our Programs page (http://www.imcne.org/programs.htm)

The Next Step in Your Professional Journey

We have a good group of members that are going to pursue their CMC this spring.  It’s not too late to join and take your career to the next level.  For more information contact Brooks Fenno () or Mary Adams ( or 781-729-9650)

IMCNE Members in Print

Carol Bergeron (Bergeron Associates) http://www.bergeronassociates.com and Charlie Perry (Insight Management Group) http://www.insightmanagementgroup.com co-authored an article entitled “Are CEOs Looking at Their Organizations Through Rose Colored Glasses?” recently published in the CEO Refresher. Read the article at: http://www.bergeronassociates.com

Lewis Green (L&G Business Solutions) http://www.l-gsolutions.com is among recognized US marketers chosen to be quoted in John Jantsch's newest book, Duct Tape Marketing, The World's Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide. Jantsch is an award-winning marketing consultant whose blog, Duct Tape Marketing, was chosen by Forbes magazine as the best blog on small business and marketing. Green's fifth book, Lead With Your Heart, is scheduled to be published by HRD Press in May 2007.

IMCNE Member Appearances

Carol Bergeron (Bergeron Associates) http://www.bergeronassociates.com was one of several panelists presenting at the WPI Venture Forum on Feb 13, 2007 on the topic of Assembling Your Initial Executive Team.

IMCNE Member Profiles

What Was Dad Thinking When He Sold My Lionel?

Jeffrey Govendo is the founder and president of The Innovative Edge, Inc., a consulting firm that helps corporate clients with creative problem solving. In addition to working on specific business problems and opportunities, he works with clients in a training and coaching capacity, imparting the skills of innovation and high-performance teamwork. Jeff has worked with client teams from a wide range of industries to help invent new technologies, re-design manufacturing operations, create new product and marketing concepts, identify fresh applications for existing technologies, name new products and businesses, and plan strategies for the future since 1990. He has also designed highly successful management conferences that feature approaches for addressing real-life challenges facing corporations.

Jeff spends the second half of each July camping out in coastal Maine with wife Barbara (in a tent, no trailers or RVs, please), where he enjoys hiking, bicycling, sea kayaking (see #6 below) and outdoor gourmet cooking. Indoors, Jeff enjoys discussing politics with those dwindling few who seem willing to engage in such talk. He cooks Chinese food. Jeff is a longtime member of Toastmasters International, in which he holds an advanced speaker's certificate. He is past president of the Articulators Club in Marlboro. In IMCNE, Jeff has held the Board positions of VP Programs and VP Corporate Sponsorships.

Ten Things You Didn’t Know about Jeffrey Govendo:

1. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, it would be… Hot, buttered popcorn, although I realize the rest of my life would be rather short.
2. If I weren't a business person, I would be an… Aging rock star or stand-up comedian.
3. Something I would like to do, but haven't had the chance… Visit the Mediterranean countries and Israel.
4. The last concert I went to… Steely Dan
5. My favorite toy as a kid…  Lionel electric train (Why did my dad sell it?  The locomotive alone would probably be worth $500 today!)
6. When I'm not working... you'll find me… paddling, preferably ocean kayaking.
7. My favorite TV show is… I hate to admit it, but political junkie that I am… CNN’s Situation Room.
8. If I could be any animal... I would be a... Eagle.
9. The last movie I saw was… The Departed
10. If I could have dinner with a famous person, dead or alive, he or she would be… Well, as unsavory as having dinner with a dead person sounds… Leonardo da Vinci. I, too, want to be a Renaissance man.

Learn more about Jeff and his business by visiting his firm’s website
http://innov-edge.com

Linda Doesn't Need to Look Further Than Her Backyard

Linda Watson, founder Whirlaway Group LLC, doesn't need to look far and away to travel. "I enjoy learning about and traveling in New England , exploring our own backyard," she says. "I feel silly when people form out west know more about Concord and Lexington than I do, having lived here all my life.

Linda founded Whirlaway Group LLC in March of 2004. She is an independent physical security consultant who helps businesses protect their assets through security management, education and preparedness planning.

"I do a physical security assessment of a client's current security program and make suggestions to help them better secure their businesses," she says. "Because I am an independent consultant, I do not sell or recommend any particular project. I recommend solutions based on industry best practices not on Products. I also do workplace violence and domestic violence training that is tied to my policy and procedure development for the company.

"I am passionate about my business and every day, I am so happy I had the courage and strength to go for it!"

 Ten Things You Didn’t Know about Linda Watson:

1. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, it would be… Italian.
2. If I weren't a business person, I would be a… Artist -- Photographer -- My bachelor’s degree is from RIT in Professional Photography.
3. Something I would like to do, but haven't had the chance… Hike all the peaks in the Adirondacks (NY State) I believe there's more than 42 peaks (?).
4. The last concert I went to… NO way. I would be dating myself.
5. My favorite toy as a kid…  My pink bike with pink streamers.
6. When I'm not working, you'll find me… In a museum or library at a college.
7. My favorite TV show is… NCIS. I don't watch much, although I am a news junkie, print and TV.
8. If I could be any animal, I would be a... Jaguar.
9. The last movie I saw was… Departed.
10. If I could have dinner with a famous person, dead or alive, he or she would be… Condi Rice.

Learn more about Linda and her business by visiting her firm’s website http://www.whirlawaygroupllc.com

A Man Who Loves His Ice Cream

Neil Wasserman has live in the Boston area since 1971, and now live in Belmont with his wife, Hope, son, Thomas (10), who likes being goalie in lacrosse and soccer, and daughter, Lily (14), violist and artist. His background is in physics (Cornell) and History of Science (Harvard). After an extended period as consulting director at Unisys, I became independent to address issues concerning the interface between IT and business service delivery. My company, Adaptive Service Engineering (est. 2002), provides consulting services to U.S. federal clients and other organizations. These services include strategic planning for information systems, enterprise architecture, business service design (Service Oriented Architecture), and IT portfolio management. The focus is on redesign service delivery processes to be component-based, and adaptive to varying customer roles, capabilities and needs.

In the last year, I have begun to focus on the patterns of time-use in individuals and organizations. The purpose is to understand how organizational strategies and values are connected to individual and organizational behaviors. This is the core of a book I'm now writing with applications to healthcare management, financial services, and organizational learning. 

Ten Things You Didn’t Know about Neil Wasserman:

1. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, it would be… mocha chip ice cream
2. If I weren't a business person, I would be a… opera conductor / tennis coach (in my dreams)
3. Something I would like to do, but haven't had the chance… revisit Denmark
4. The last concert I went to…   New England Regional Metropolitan Opera auditions
5. My favorite toy as a kid…   record player
6. When I'm not working, you'll find me… playing tennis, being with my family, writing/reading
7. My favorite TV show is…  Masterpiece Theater
8. If I could be any animal, I would be a...  Bonobo - They seem to have a good time. 
9. The last movie I saw was…  Little Miss Sunshine
10. If I could have dinner with a famous person, dead or alive, he or she would be…  E.J. Dionne

Learn more about Neil and his business by visiting his firm’s website http://www.adaptiveservices.com

Business Book Review

The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations 
by Ori Brafman, Rod Beckstrom

The title of this book refers to the fact that a headless spider dies but even a relatively small part of a starfish can regenerate itself. 

The book is full of interesting stories about powerful, but essentially leaderless organizations, ranging from the Apaches to Alcoholics Anonymous, Al Qaeda, Wikipedia, craigslist, and Skype. In each story, there is something new to be learned about the power of people to organize and regulate their own activities—and what that means to more traditional organizations.

Although the authors are not predicting the demise of leadership as we currently understand it, they will leave you thinking about when leaders need to step back and let groups organize themselves. It is a lesson that every organization needs to learn in today’s Internet-enabled world. And one that makes you realize how fundamental some of the changes that are still to come as we move through and beyond Web 2.0…another good reason to attend our event on March 15 TH!!!

For more info, visit the authors’ website (http://www.starfishandspider.com/)

Review written by Mary Adams, CMC, President, IMCNE

Creating Messages That Stick Grow Businesses

Made to Stick by brothers Chip Heath and Dan Heath is the most important business book I have read since Built to Last. It discusses the number one reason customers and clients notice our businesses: Messages that stick and create a memory. Although the authors tell us the book is for anyone in the business of producing ideas who struggle to make those ideas stick, I think this book will especially help us business people become better communicators of ideas and messages.

Marketing and Communications 101 teach us that to grow a business, we must get noticed. Furthermore, we must create communications that resonate with our audience and get them to not only notice us but to respond to our messages. Using story-telling, the Heath brothers share what they believe are the "six key qualities of an idea that is made to stick: simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotional and stories."

I have been in the communications business for 35 years, and this is the best $24.95 investment I've made in a long time.

Written by Lewis Green, L&G Business Solutions and IMCNE Newsletter Editor,

Share Your News

Share news about your firm with our community by submitting information on collaborations with other members, upcoming speaking engagements, and new publications. Eligible publications are books or articles that have been published recently by a print or on-line magazine. We are happy to post a copy of your article on the IMCNE website if you send us a Word or .pdf document with the full text.