Customer Reviews

The Flawless Consulting Fieldbook and Companion : A Guide Understanding Your Expertise

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have the 2nd edition of Block's "Flawless" and find it an essential reference, true to its reputation. Disappointingly in this Companion many of the authors seem to treat the readers as a captive audience - at the level of first year college students. For example - a diatribe on Romeo and Juliet as an illustration of human diversity, or three pages of "my worse experiences" one of which transpired to be freezing on stage and losing the point. These type of chapters annoyed me and distracted me from some of the worthy contributions. So much so that I returned the book to the bookshop and asked for my money back - the first time I have done so in 30 years of buying management books. In my opinion this book is a dud riding on the coat tails of the previous 'flawless' success.

This book is a wonderful resource for consultants, business systems analysts and business development managers who are in the service and solutions business. This audience is encompassing in that consultants will find a wealth of advice and knowledge on how to successfully execute and deliver within the context of the entire engagement cycle. The value this book brings to business systems analysts who work internally for a company is the approach that ensures a close working relationship with their customers. Business development managers will gain some deep insights about how to properly initiate an engagement after the business is won and ensure that what was promised during the sales cycle is actually delivered during the execution of the project or delivery of services.

The book starts with one of the most important topics to each audience member: contracting. I gained a lot from this section because, while I am a consultant, my services are "sold" by business development managers and I am not very close to the contract process. What I learned here will help me to help those who keep me busy to continue doing so. I have a newfound appreciation for what is involved in getting me placed on projects and assignments.

I thought the highlight of this book was the implementation strategy. If you are a consultant you know that this is probably the most critical step in the whole process because it sets the tone for how the rest of the project will go. The adage about first impressions could not hold more truth than in this aspect of consulting (internal or external), because this is where the rubber meets the road so to speak. The approach proposed by the author is not only sound, but refined and will ensure success if followed.

Another section I particularly liked is the discussion of ethics. This is an issue that looms in the background and is thoroughly interwoven into our existence as consultants. The problem is that we are faced with ethical decisions almost every day, and are sometimes tempted to cross into grey areas and use rationalization. The solution is to take to heart the author's guidelines and advice and always be conscious of the fact that successful consulting requires a strict, unwavering commitment to a strong code of ethics. Personally, this section was a wake-up call that filled me with resolve to place professional ethics above all else.

Overall this book provides clear guidelines for delivering customer value and crafting a close, mutually beneficial relationship with clients. The emphasis on close communications and client interactions within the framework of a strong implementation approach and ethical dealings makes this book a "must read" by the audience I cited above. I strongly recommend it and give it 5 stars.

This book deserves to be among the TOP 10 of business books of 2001. If you work as a consultant and want to learn your customers how to fish (in stead of giving them fish), BUY this book! If you have consultants walking around in your organisation, make sure they apply these principles!

After reading this, you'll understand why re-engineering processes fail, why the balanced scorecard isn't "the" solution", why teaching people skills sometimes has no impact, why implementing SAP is so hard and why people in companies are very sceptic if you suggest any of these "popular" solutions. In fact, all these solutions share the same underlying principle: some knowledge and procedures need to be added to the company to "fix" problems. This notion is wrong! Overcoming resistance to change has to do with giving people a chance to participate.

When studying projects of famous consultants and big 5 consulting comapnies, I have often wondered: "Why did the implementation of this project fail?" My first personal lesson was that PEOPLE matter more than methodology and tools. (I have been writing about this for years...).

Next to this first learning, I knew that it's not the consultants that have to bring the solution, it's the persons IN the organisation. And I have been looking for years for solutions to this paradox (being a consultant, that is). SO: methodology IS important: if you use a methodology which will mine the knowledge of the company as a WHOLE, you are the enabler of the change. As a consultant, you do not have to bring the CONTENT, the knowledge of WHAT needs to be changed, but you have to GUIDE the change process, and bring knowledge to the organisation so that they can change themselves. This book is one of the few that will really help you understand which processes are needed for this (many of the 30+ people that helped to write this book have a proven track record in this area).

If you don't know how to put systemic thinking into practice (or you think it's just about designing a solution with the system in mind), and/or if you haven't heard about whole-scale change, apreciative inquiry or the engagement paradigm, this is a good place to start: you will literally discover a new way of consulting, one that lives up to the title of this book and might even really enable "flawless" implementation processes.

And if putting this book into practice isn't flawless: go to the last chapter: Peter Block added a "trouble-shooting guide" that helps you get trough 12 common roadblocks.

Make consulting flawless, learn how to make people share THEIR solution.

Patrick E.C. Merlevede, co-author of "7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence"

I cannot say enough about the depth, accuracy and inventiveness of the material in this book. As a consultant internally and externally to organizations for decades, I use this book in my work and as a resource when I teach coaches and consultants. Packed with examples and strategies that work!

Poetry, fiction, mythology, psychology, and more; this is a fabulous text that incorporates multiple disciplines in order to demonstrate the breadth of its concepts. It is a must read book that will give a person insight into the frailty and courage of the human condition. This is not your average business-boring book...

Unfortunately I had to return the book beacuse my course instructor no longer required it as the main text for the class. The seller was extremely understanding in giving me the refund with no questions asked. The text was in great condition also.

Block keeps learning from his own sparkling consulting insights as time goes by. At One Big Idea Consulting Limited NZ we would read with respect an old envelope that he used to catch a fleeting insight after a dinner with a consulting client. This book may be an after-thought, but it is not to be lightly dismissed by any serious consultant or client.

Drucker The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done (Harperbusiness Essentials) at his best, and Henderson Henderson on Corporate Strategy and Schaffer High-Impact Consulting: How Clients and Consultants Can Work Together to Achieve Extraordinary Results (Completely Revised and Updated) also have the same influence at One Big Idea Consulting Limited NZ. After decades of using their seminal teachings inour practical 100-Day Action Projects around the globe, if they speak from the here or from the hear-after we perk up and listen with both ears.

For any consultant, in any field. Block speaks about the heart of consulting work, not only the mind of it.

Peter Block's classic book's fieldbook and companion has an unusual structure and there lies it's USP. It looks at dilemmas and challenges that consultants face and also the tools that can be used.

If you want to know the innards of consulting, without getting caught up in brands, to delve into both the art and science, then read this book....it's a must for facilitators, trainers, process consultants of all hues and colors.