Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used (Wiley Audio) [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Peter Block (Author, Narrator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1560159049 | ISBN-13: 978-1560159049 | Publication Date: February 2001 | Edition: Abridged 2nd

'Flawless Consulting', the best-selling consulting book of all time, has been the consultant's bible for over 15 years. While other books on consulting outline theories for understanding organisations or for implementing interventions, 'Flawless Consulting' actually describes and demonstrates ways of behaving with clients. This new edition includes illustrative examples, case studies, exercises, and commentary on pitfalls. This book lays the groundwork for dealing effectively with clients, peers, and others. Anyone who must communicate in a professional context will find scores of lessons to apply to their jobs. Approximate running time: 180 minutes. Two audio cassettes.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The second edition of Peter Block's Flawless Consulting gracefully updates what many consider the best resource of its kind. New chapters on implementation, "whole-system" strategies, and ethics are included, but in general it simply fine-tunes Block's proven advice to match the transformations that business and society have undergone since initial publication two decades ago. "The days of long studies and expert-driven answers are passing," the author proclaims in his new preface. "The task of the consultant is increasingly to build the capacity of clients to make their own assessments and answer their own questions." He then subtly modifies his established recommendations accordingly for every step, from the initial client meeting and problem diagnosis through data collection and the execution of solutions. In the section on "Conducting a Group Feedback Meeting," for example, he advises: "Treat the group as a collection of individuals.... Ask each person what he or she wants from the meeting. This will surface differences and force the group to take responsibility for some of the difficulties that may arise." --Howard Rothman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"You say very important things very simply . . . a welcome relief. Flawless Consulting will be required reading for my class . . ." —Arthur N. Turner, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Business Administration, Harvard University --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Wiley Audio; Abridged 2nd edition (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560159049
• ISBN-13: 978-1560159049
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,299,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #90 in Books > Books on Cassette > Business > Careers & Business Life

More About the Author

Peter Block is a citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a partner in Designed Learning, a training company that offers workshops designed by Block to build the skills outlined in his books. He is the author of Flawless Consulting, Stewardship, The Empowered Manager, and The Answer to How Is Yes. He is the recipient of the American Society for Training and Development Award for Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance and the Association for Quality and Participation President's Award. He is also a member of Training magazine's HRD Hall of Fame.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

110 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Effective, Ethical Consulting That Is Good for Everyone!, May 4, 2000

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used (Hardcover)

I liked this book very much, because it focuses on the style of consulting I like to do -- increasing the capacity of the client to find and implement her/his own solutions. What especially impressed me was the great care placed on how to establish the relationship with the client, as well as defining the assignment. Consultants love to define assignments, but often don't give much thought to the relationship. The emphasis should be just the opposite.

The book is nicely balanced between the needs of those who supply internal consulting (whether formally, or as staff resources) and external consultants and experts. I have played both roles, and each one teaches you something you need to know in order to be a better consultant. This is the only book on consulting that I have read that captures both perspectives and roles well.

A great strength of the book is that there are extensive examples of the same issue so that you can get a good perspective, even if you don't yet have much experience as a consultant. So it is a terrific book for those who are new to consulting.

For those of us who have a few decades of consulting experience, there is still a lot to learn. I was especially helped by the extensive list of ways to diagnose what may be going wrong when the client asks questions or is inactive. I was helped even more by many ingenious responses to those situations that had never occurred to me.

This is a principled book, one that considers the needs of the client and the consultant in a fair and even-handed way. It also gives you the perspective you need to apply those principles.

I heartily agree with the emphasis on getting as much relevant client involvement as possible, to improve commitment, understanding, relationships, and the ability to implement later on.

The next time I run into a potential snag in a consulting relationship, I intend to check my thinking with this wonderful guide. I suggest you do the same. You'll need to have a copy around, so plan to buy one on Amazon.com.

For those fans of The McKinsey Way, you should read this book, too. It will facilitate your career in much more valuable and signficant ways.

54 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hands down the best book on consulting I ever bought!!!, August 19, 1999

By 

Russ Emrick (Monument, CO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used (Hardcover)

Peter Block covers the intangibles of consulting: the politics, communications and the obstacles that derail the consultant/client relationship. This book is a MUST read, not only for consultants, but for anyone that works in or around companies that have politics, or bureaucracy, or people. That should cover just about all of us. This book helped me because it covered so much more then the business techniques of consulting, hey I'm a business consultant after all. Flawless Consulting helps you master communication and contracting gaffs, to understand why after much good advice the customer still does the wrong thing, and most importantly how your success can be assured despite those kind of issues.

52 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tremendous guide for formal and informal consultants!, June 28, 2002

By 

Marc "Fundraisingcoach.com" (Waterville, ME, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used (Hardcover)

This is an amazing book! Peter Block's Flawless Consulting, is a textbook appropriate not only for consultants but for anyone that wants to share their expertise with others. Block explains, "You are consulting any time you are trying to change or improve a situation but have no direct control over the implementation."

About his audacious title, he asserts that it is possible for us to operate without error. To consult flawlessly "requires intense concentration on two process. (1)Being as authentic as you can be at all times with the client; (2)Attending directly, in words and actions, to the business of each stage of the consulting process."

Having set the bar extremely high, Block doesn't leave the reader trying to figure out what "being authentic" and "attending to the business of each stage" means. Flawless Consulting is an extremely practical book. Flawless Consulting is replete with checklists, case scenarios, suggested wording (sometimes entire scripts), business recommendations, and practical insights. The book is saturated with Block's wonderful sense of humor and humanity.

Unlike some second editions that are content to simply add a new preface and some cosmetic changes to the dust jacket, Block has updated information throughout the book and added entirely new chapters on: Whole-System Discovery, Implementation, Strategies for Engagement, Ethics and the Shadow Side of Consulting, The Heart of the Matter.

Though not a consultant in the formal sense, I found his insights delightfully applicable to my day-to-day work. So much so that I nearly underlined every line in the book and made notes in the margins! Despite all the great information I gleaned, I think people more formally involved in consulting will get even more from Flawless Consulting. I highly recommend this book for anyone who interested in Getting Your Expertise Used.

In addition to the two prefaces, the chapters are:

Chapter 1 A Consultant by Any Other Name

Chapter 2 Techniques Are Not Enough
Chapter 3 Flawless Consulting
Chapter 4 Contracting Overview
Chapter 5 The Contracting Meeting
Chapter 6 The Agonies of Contracting
Chapter 7 The Internal Consultant
Chapter 8 Understanding Resistance
Chapter 9 Dealing with Resistance
Chapter 10 From Diagnosis to Discovery
Chapter 11 Getting the Data
Chapter 12 Whole-System Discovery
Chapter 13 Preparing for Feedback
Chapter 14 Managing the Feedback Meeting
Chapter 15 Implementation
Chapter 16 Strategies for Engagement
Chapter 17 Some Tools for Engagement
Chapter 18 Ethics and the Shadow Side of Consulting
Chapter 19 The Heart of the Matter
Appendix Another Checklist You Can Use (7 checklists actually)