Customer Reviews

Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

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.

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)

About a year ago, I decided to leave a full-time internal consulting position (health care) to start my own consulting firm. Several months after having done so, I've just discovered Peter Block's "Flawless Consulting." There is no doubt in my mind that had I read this (or the 1st edition) sooner, the years I spent as an internal consultant would have been much easier and much more fruitful. (Shame on me!)

Anyone in the consulting biz owes it to himself/herself to purchase and read this book. If you work in a business and don't consider yourself a consultant, get the book anyway - you might be surprised to learn just how much consulting you actually do. There are some VERY powerful lessons about negotiation between the covers. The checklists alone in this book are worth the price, but it is a fantastic piece of work.

I think everyone should read this book. Even if you don't think you're a consultant - you are one. You probably try to get your services used inside a company.

Block has a real insight into how the dynamics of consultancy work. I read it before I dealt with my first external client and it saved me from what would have otherwise been less than flawless consulting! As it was, it turned into a great success.

I'll be rereading it regularly.

This book has been a useful guide for me over the past 15 years at various stages of my career as a Human Resource professional. Block provides a comprehensive framework and practical tips for the consultant (both external and internal) at various stages of the consultancy process. For the beginners in business consultancy and professionals in any staff functions, the book will set you on the right foot. One will also find it an important refresher and practical toolbox throughout their career. The book is delightful to read, with lots of interesting illustrations and examples. It is one of few books that I always keep within reach in my office.

This is an excellent book that accomplishes two things the author promised to accomplish. First, Block effectively outlines a strategic approach to working with customers, generating contracts, building relationships, and respecting each other in the process (you and the consumer of your services). This is not one of those "there are two kinds of customers in this world" books offering trite and simplistic answers to a complex process. You really learn something, not just get exposed to cliches. Second, Block provides realistic and useful examples of situations which can challenge your plans, strategies, etc. They are helpful, nicely written, and practical. The cartoons (by Janis Nowlan?) are great too!

Peter Block's "Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used", was one of several texts for Dr. Alan Goldman's class on Organizational Consulting, a part of the Scottsdale MBA program offered by ASU West. Having worked as an internal and external consultant in the past, I was hoping for some "tips and tricks" I might be able to glean from this book. I was not disappointed.

Block uses an easy to read style that makes the numerous, yet short, chapters quick reads. The book is organized into nineteen chapters, with each chapter focused on a distinct element of consulting. Topics covered include: contracting, internal consultants, resistance, data-gathering, feedback, implementation, and ethics. Perhaps the most useful section is on implementation.

In his chapters on implementation, Block addresses one of the biggest problems in consulting today, the "implementation gap". What happens at the end of a consulting project is perhaps more important than what happens when the project is in flight. How can an organization make the most of the work of a consultant? How can that business take the results of a project and integrate them and ensure that the project findings don't gather dust on some bookshelf? Through real, if somewhat dates, strategies, Block gives readers a method to answer these questions.

To supplement the chapters, Block provides several checklists in the form of an appendix "Another Checklist You Can Use". These bullets offer nearly all the information from the book in concise, "PowerPoint" ready form. This section is a great resource.

Block's book is a good primer for anyone who does not have consulting experience. He lays out terminology as well as real-world scenarios to help clarify the theory. His stance is clearly articulated and the book is easy to follow. That being said, I strongly suggest this book be used as a starting point for consulting education, not as a definitive guide.

In my role as a Consultant and trainer and coach of other consultants, this is the most important book in my library. Block's original edition of this book, published in 1981 became such a classic that a second edition was created in 2000.

Both sit on my bookshelf, and both have been read, highlighted, referred to and consulted regularly. At least three groups of people should read this book: new consultants, experienced consultants and those who hire or manage consultants.

* If you are new to the world of consulting, whether you are an internal consultant or serving your Clients externally, you need to read and study this book. It will give you stories to enhance your understanding. It will give you processes and systems to help you be more successful right away.

* If you are an experienced consultant who hasn't read this book, it is time. You will learn things you already know in new ways and I guarantee you will learn things you will wish you had known for a very long time.

* If you hire or lead other consultants, read this then use it as a study guide for your work with your consultants.

Incidentally, your title doesn't have to be consultant for you to be one. If you are a Financial Analyst, Accountant, Project Manager, IT professional, Lawyer, Salesperson, HR Professional, Trainer or have any other title where you want to have your expertise used more successfully (and you don't have authority), then this book is for you.

An essential book for the one-person consultant, either just beginning or a veteran. No matter how well you think you know your clients or your expertise, this book will keep you focused on the consulting essentials, leading to successful and implemented projects - and clients who will want you again. If you can only afford one book on consulting, this is the one - no bull!