Customer Reviews

High-Impact Consulting: How Clients and Consultants Can Leverage Rapid Results Into Long-Term Gains (Jossey-Bass Business & Management)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

High Impact Consulting is a must read for both consultants and managers striving to excel in today's competitive, fast paced market. The book provides a recipe for consultants to perform better in their job and tells managers what to expect from a good, high impact, consultant. I was first introduced to this book by Prof. Alan Goldman as a required read for the Organizational Consulting class at Arizona State University, MBA program.

The author starts by comparing low-yield, conventional consulting to the high-yield, high impact consulting. He concludes that traditional consulting suffers from five fatal flaws that lead to an implementation gap in the client organization since most consultants don't make client implementation a central focus of their consulting practice. It is vital for consultants to make certain that clients absorb, use, and benefit from the solutions the consultants offer. In order to do that, the author advocates that high impact consulting corrects the five flaws of traditional consulting through the following
1. Define the project in terms of specific client goals that will be attained instead of defining the project in terms of the consultant deliverables.
2. Determine the project scope based on what the client is willing and able to implement instead of ignoring the client readiness.
3. Divide the project into increments with rapid cycle time for quicker results to give momentum to the project instead of aiming for one big solution that requires huge investments and long cycle time.
4. Consultants should work with clients in a collaborative, full partnership mode through every stage of the project instead of passing the responsibility back and forth.
5. Leverage the use of small consulting teams instead of labor-intensive use of hordes of consultants through active participation of the client and helping the client make better use of their own talents.

The author uses a wealth of examples to support those ideas based on his personal experience and the experience of other consultants that worked with him. The remainder of the book provides recommendations for the consultant-client contracting process, the need for senior management support to ensure success of the consulting project, and how to overcome client and consultant anxiety.

The reader would find this book easy to follow with clear ideas that are based on the author's experience, not on academic research. Working in the aerospace industry for a number of years, I can relate my personal experience to many of the conventional consulting flaws that the author introduced and attempted to fix. I have witnessed a number of consulting projects that companies would spent thousands of dollars on with no clear outcome or successful implementation. This book definitely made me an advocate of high impact consulting when I do internal consulting or when I seek help of external consultants.

The main drawback in this book is the author's writing style. In his attempt to deliver and clarify his ideas to the reader, the author falls into the trap of repeating himself over and over and over again. It would be helpful if the author uses future book revisions as an opportunity to focus his ideas and avoid repetitions. Also, in this era of globalization, it would be useful to add a chapter about cross cultural consulting and how high impact consulting would be adjusted to accommodate cultural diversity.

This book gives an account of the absolute right way to consult. But there is a problem: One, however, I believe is a good one whose day in the sun has come.

Consultants and consulting firms have different definitions of success. A GOOD and TRUE consultant wants to see his customer succeed, and this book shows how to accomplish that. A TYPICAL consulting firm wants to rack up the chargeable time. There is a dichotomy here, one with which I have dealt personally for 18 years before founding my own firm.

The author correctly describes consulting success as client results. However, most large consulting firms describe success as a monstrous amount of chargeable hours. In short, don't you dare solve your client's problem before your billing has reached at least six figures!!!

Read this book. If you are a consultant, celebrate it. If you are a partner in a major consulting firm, decry it. If you are a client, hold your consultants to it!

This is a high quality book that provides excellent advice to managers and consultants. The author explains the critical factors for an effective design of projects, especially the need to define project objectives in terms of client results instead of merely consultant deliverables. Schaffer identifies five serious flaws that he says low-yielding consultants suffer from of coming up with solutions with no regard on the capacity of the client to implement them.

This is a must read for managers of companies that may need to employ consultants. These managers will be able to demand high value from the consultants. It is also very critical for practising and aspiring consultants as they can learn how they can add value to their clients by providing new methods or solutions to their clients, and ensure that clients achieve measurable improvement arising from the solutions they provide and finally ensure that the client is able to sustain the improvement in future. Schaffer presents useful and practical recommendations directed at both the consultant and client to ensure a win-win relationship.

The book has several case studies and tips that help reinforce the concepts that he is propagating. This is a well written book that is easy to follow. The book is a useful addition to my library.

After having worked as a senior management and communications consultant for more than 10 years I have finally found a piece of work that really says it all. And gives it all. "High-Impact Consulting" carries great insights in the psychology and sociology of managing and developing an organisation and its co-workers. Mr Schaffer gives you cristal clear advice and methods that can be used right away. On the next day, in the next meeting, etc. This is a must-read for everyone living and working in an organisation. If there is any truth to the idea that our World is moving toward a work force of "homo consultus" and an economy of "service concepts" this book should be one of its guiding lights. I rate it in the same category as Thomas Kuhn's 1962 revolutionary piece "The logic...of scientific relvolutions", which was a ground breaking work for our science and its self-awarness. The big difference between these books, besides the subject, is that "High-Impact Consulting" is easy to read, easy to understand and easy to take to your heart. In other words, it is written in a "high-impact" mode and manner. "High-impact consulting" could be one of this "special order books" and carry a serious price tag. But its not. So why not get it? It can't be your fear of having a measurable and valuable impact...or?

In today's world consultants are called in to solve a variety of needs for organizations, yet they often produce less than desirable results. More often than not, companies are spending thousands of dollars but getting very little in return. Robert Schaffer not only describes a much more effective form of consulting, but tells clients how they should approach a consulting project.

Schaffer suggests that all consulting should be based on three principles: 1) the consultant must provide a solution or a method new to the client, 2) second, the client must achieve measurable improvement in its results by adopting the consultant's solution, and 3) the client must be able to sustain the improvement over time. Typical consulting relationships stop at the first principle. Shaffer shows consultants how they can offer more to their clients by being willing to make sure the last two principles are followed as well.

Schaffer suggests the following success factors in order to achieve high-impact consulting:
* Every project must be defined in terms of client results. Projects should never be defined in terms of deliverables.
* Projects must be designed to match the client motivation and capability. The consultants and clients must discuss what the client is willing to carry out.
* Larger projects should be divided in rapid-cycle subprojects. Schaffer says that the faster a project gets finished, the more likely it is to deliver the desired results.
* Develop a working partnership between client and consultant. The back and forth hand offs of traditional consulting must be avoided.
* Leverage consulting inputs. Rapid-cycle projects with measurable results and active participation by the client require far fewer consulting hours. The client can spend less money!

All of these factors have the potential to lead to consulting projects that result in the desired outcome for the client.

While one would expect this book to be good for would-be consultants to read, it is also fantastic for clients to read. Thanks to Dr. Alan Goldman, my instructor for Management 591 at the ASU West MBA program, for introducing this book to me - this is one that I will use over and over again.

I do not think the CEOs of the Big 5 consulting agencies will be inviting Robert Schaffer over for dinner anytime soon. In his book, "High-Impact Consulting", Shaffer takes apart the traditional methodologies of "Trojan Horse" consulting and introduces his streamlined rapid-cycle model. This model revolves around achieving goals, organizational learning and relationship building. This model has been criticized as only going after the "low hanging fruit". Throughout his book, Schaffer details how High-Impact consulting goes way beyond that.

Shaffer begins the book by laying out the "Five Fatal Flaws" of traditional consulting firms. These flaws center on using cookie-cutter consulting plans that do not fit a client's needs or readiness for change. These projects target overall change as opposed to incremental success with little to no involvement by the client during the planning or implementation stages. Throughout the rest of his book, Schaffer offers solutions that alleviate each of these flaws. He has designed a consulting model that focuses on involving the client in each step of the project, from initial planning meeting to the final assessment meeting. Schaffer believes that it is the consultant's responsibility to teach the client how to conduct "breakthrough projects" that leverage existing staff as opposed to hiring large number of consultants.

The book offers some great ideas on how the rapid-cycle model can really help a consultant build strong relationships with his/her clients and actually make a difference. It is a great book for consultants and managers looking to hire a consultant. It does a good job of laying out expectations for people on both sides of the table. The only flaw is that Schaffer is very repetitive with his ideas. This can be a little frustrating while reading the book, but I can honestly tell you that I remember his principles long after reading the last page.

This book was a required reading for my MBA Organizational Consulting and Executive Coaching course taught by Dr Alan Goldman at Arizona State University West. After working in the staffing industry for the past six years, I have seen many consulting projects succeed and fail. This book has given me a great deal of insight on how to run a successful project and given me a lot of great ideas to use in my own personal consulting career.

"Knowledge is Power." Robert Schaffer, the author of High Impact Consulting, would beg to differ and in his book provides a good framework for what he believes is incorrect or ineffective about the conventional consulting model, a model based on the premise that consultants provide value to their clients from their expertise and ability to develop sound solutions, tools, processes, or systems. The primary problem with the conventional consulting model, Schaffer explains, is that the best ideas are worthless if clients are unable to implement and sustain them. Its like reading about great diet and exercise programs, but never putting them into practice. So, modifying that age-old saying above to "Knowledge plus Action is Power" would probably suit Schaffer better.

I have worked years in the Supply Chain arena primarily as an internal consultant, but have worked on several projects with external consultants as well. I was tasked with reading Schaffer's book for my Organization Consulting & Executive Coaching course taught by Dr. A Goldman as part of my MBA coursework at Arizona State University and assumed that I would have limited takeaways from this book given my practical work experience with external consultants as well as my own experience as an internal consultant. Not for the first time in my life, I was wrong.

Schaffer does an excellent job detailing what is wrong with the current consulting model-the implementation gap-and some of the key contributing factors-the "Five Fatal Flaws"-that lead to the implementation gap. He also explains how the current consulting model places little accountability in the consultant's lap and the client is left burdening the implementation and accountability of any failures. After reading this book, I realized that my interactions with external consultants were not optimal because of inherent problems with the conventional consulting model and how I evaluated a successful consulting interaction. For example, this book challenges one of the primary conventional consulting approaches of going after "Trojan Horses," or all-encompassing holistic projects that are often too complex, too time-consuming, and too costly to implement. Who cares if a consultant provides you with the world's greatest idea if you are unable to implement it? Schaffer recommends that using a rapid cycle approach, where smaller subprojects that are still strategic in nature are a better way to build momentum and gain results that impact the bottom line vs. trying to bite off more than you can chew.

Overall Schaffer's book is a solid read which taught me some quick lessons. The only shortcoming of his book is the redundancy of Schaffer's lessons. Schaffer essentially is drilling down on the same concepts that were introduced in the first couple of chapters throughout the remainder of the book. If you have limited time, read the first few chapters and it will give you a solid framework on what is wrong with the conventional consulting model and how to recalibrate your future interactions with clients or consultant depending on which side of the table you are on. Then you can come back and read the remaining chapters when you have more time!

I spent 15 years as a manager inside companies that had little to no idea how to work with a consultant. When I started consulting myself, I bought copies of this great book for my clients so they could learn how to get the most for their dollar. The great thing about the book is that the title might make you think that the value it promises is all long term -- quite the opposite. The entire concept is to look for value points and deliver them -- focus on results and not on inputs.

Overall, this book is great for people who are not consultants because it really demystifies working with consultants by revealing things consultants woudl rather you not know. With a level playing field -- created of you read this -- you can really make your consultants work for you.

This book was required reading for one of my university courses. The book is chock full of useful information that will help you give your clients what they paid for - excellent results!

If you are wondering what this book is really all about, another title the author could have used is Results Driven Consulting. The author doesnt advocate the typical consulting model, which consists of analyzing a situation and giving recommendations. Instead, it suggests that the consultant should stick around, and help implement those recommendations to make sure the client is fully satisfied (and will call you back for future engagements). Overall, an excellent and informative book. The writing is a little dry and time consuming, but well worth the effort!

High-Impact Consulting by Robert H. Schaffer is an excellent guide for both client and consultant to use prior to entering into any consulting arrangement. I had the opportunity to examine Schaffer's guide on "How Clients and Consultants Can Work Together to Achieve Extraordinary Results" as a part of my MBA studies at Arizona State University through an Organizational Consulting and Executive Coaching course taught by Dr. Alan Goldman.

I have acted as an internal consultant in the area of Financial Planning and Business Operations in the Aerospace Industry for the last 20 years and found Schaffer's book to be extremely insightful and "right on" when describing the cultural shift from conventional, large consulting engagements to high-impact, results-focused, rapid cycle time projects. Companies are becoming increasingly more demanding on consultants to deliver faster results at lower costs. In our fast-paced business world today, we cannot wait years for projects to complete.

I think the strengths of this book include the many case studies describing how high-impact projects have been successfully implemented as well as the notes to clients and consultants at the end of each chapter. These case studies and helpful hints will ensure a successful collaborative environment where clients can take more responsibility and control of a project and consultants share 50/50 in accountability for achieving results.

This form of high-impact consulting is viable and cost effective in almost any industry. It is in practice today in many companies using internal consultants to facilitate accelerated improvement workshops aimed at results-oriented projects. If implemented correctly as suggested in Schaffer's book, achievement of results is guaranteed.