Book description
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
Table of contents
- Copyright
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Preface to the First Edition
- Acknowledgments
- 1. A Consultant by Any Other Name . . .
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2. Techniques Are Not Enough
- 2.1. Beyond Substance
- 2.2. The Consultant's Assumptions
- 2.3. The Consultant's Goals
- 2.4. Developing Client Commitment—A Secondary Goal of Each Consulting Act
- 2.5. Roles Consultants Choose
- 2.6. Collaboration and the Fear of Holding Hands
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2.7. Staging the Client's Involvement—Step by Step
- 2.7.1. Step 1. Defining the Initial Problem
- 2.7.2. Step 2. Deciding to Proceed with the Project
- 2.7.3. Step 3. Selecting Dimensions to Be Studied
- 2.7.4. Step 4. Deciding Who Will Be Involved in the Project
- 2.7.5. Step 5. Selecting the Method
- 2.7.6. Step 6. Data Collection
- 2.7.7. Steps 7, 8, 9. Funneling the Data, Data Summary, Data Analysis
- 2.7.8. Step 10. Feedback of Results
- 2.7.9. Step 12. Decision on Actions
- 2.8. Checklist #1. Assessing the Balance of Responsibility
- 3. Flawless Consulting
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4. Contracting Overview
- 4.1. Contracting—The Concept and the Skill
- 4.2. Contracting Skills
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4.3. Elements of a Contract
- 4.3.1. 1. The Boundaries of Your Analysis
- 4.3.2. 2. Objectives of the Project
- 4.3.3. 3. The Kind of Information You Seek
- 4.3.4. 4. Your Role in the Project
- 4.3.5. 5. The Product You Will Deliver
- 4.3.6. 6. What Support and Involvement You Need from the Client
- 4.3.7. 7. Time Schedule
- 4.3.8. 8. Confidentiality
- 4.3.9. 9. Feedback to You Later
- 4.4. Checklist #2. Analyzing One of Your Contracts
- 4.5. Ground Rules for Contracting
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5. The Contracting Meeting
- 5.1. Who Is the Client?
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5.2. Navigating the Contracting Meeting
- 5.2.1. Step 1. Personal Acknowledgement
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5.2.2. Step 2. Communicate Understanding of the Problem
- 5.2.2.1. Acknowledge the Unique Aspects of the Situation
- 5.2.2.2. Examples:
- 5.2.2.3. Restate, in Your Own Words, Your Perception of the Problem
- 5.2.2.4. Examples:
- 5.2.2.5. Reassure the Manager that There Are Solutions to This Unique and Complicated Problem and that You Can Be of Help
- 5.2.2.6. Examples:
- 5.2.3. Step 3. Client Wants and Offers
- 5.2.4. Step 4. Consultant Wants and Offers
- 5.2.5. Step 5. Reaching Agreement
- 5.2.6. Step 6. Asking for Feedback About Control and Commitment
- 5.2.7. Step 7. Give Support
- 5.2.8. Step 8. Restate Actions
- 5.2.9. Step 5–S. Getting Stuck on Wants and Offers
- 5.2.10. Step 6–S. Think/Recess
- 5.2.11. Step 7-S. New Wants and Offers
- 5.2.12. Step 8–S. Stuck Again
- 5.2.13. Step 9–S. Process How We Are Handling This Discussion
- 5.2.14. Step 10–S. Rediscuss Wants and Offers
- 5.2.15. Step 11–S. If Still Stuck—Terminate/Minimize Your Investment
- 5.3. The Problem with Saying No
- 5.4. Checklist #3. Planning a Contracting Meeting
- 5.5. Selling Your Services—Good Selling Is Good Contracting
- 5.6. The Meeting As a Model of How You Work
- 5.7. Closing the Contracting Meeting
- 5.8. After the Contracting Meeting
- 5.9. Checklist #4. Reviewing the Contracting Meeting
- 6. The Agonies of Contracting
- 7. The Internal Consultant
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8. Understanding Resistance
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8.1. The Faces of Resistance
- 8.1.1. Give Me More Detail
- 8.1.2. Flood You with Detail
- 8.1.3. Time
- 8.1.4. Impracticality
- 8.1.5. I'm Not Surprised
- 8.1.6. Attack
- 8.1.7. Confusion
- 8.1.8. Silence
- 8.1.9. Intellectualizing
- 8.1.10. Moralizing
- 8.1.11. Compliance
- 8.1.12. Methodology
- 8.1.13. Flight into Health
- 8.1.14. Pressing for Solutions
- 8.2. What Are Clients Resisting When They Are Resisting Us?
- 8.3. Underlying Concerns
- 8.4. Sometimes It Is Not Resistance
- 8.5. The Fear and the Wish
- 8.6. Ogres and Angels
- 8.7. . . . and Heroics
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8.1. The Faces of Resistance
- 9. Dealing with Resistance
- 10. From Diagnosis to Discovery
- 11. Getting the Data
- 12. Whole-System Discovery
- 13. Preparing for Feedback
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14. Managing the Feedback Meeting
- 14.1. Feedback Concepts and Skills
- 14.2. How to Present Data
- 14.3. Structuring the Meeting
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14.4. The Feedback Meeting—Step by Step
- 14.4.1. State the Structure of the Meeting
- 14.4.2. Present Findings and Recommendations
- 14.4.3. Ask for Client Rections
- 14.4.4. "Are You Getting What You Want?"
- 14.4.5. Decision to Proceed
- 14.4.6. Test for Client Concerns About Control and Commitment
- 14.4.7. Ask Yourself Whether There Is More You Want from the Meeting
- 14.4.8. A Recap
- 14.5. Resistance in the Feedback Meeting
- 14.6. Checklist #7. Planning a Feedback Meeting
- 14.7. Conducting a Group Feedback Meeting
- 14.8. Checklist #8. Reviewing the Feedback Meeting
- 14.9. Feedback Skills Summary
- 15. Implementation
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16. Strategies for Engagement
- 16.1. Feelings Are Facts
- 16.2. Supporting the Emotional Side
- 16.3. The Meeting Is the Message
- 16.4. Innovative Engagement in Five Easy Pieces
- 16.5. The Choice for Accountability
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17. Some Tools for Engagement
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17.1. Methods You Can Really Use
- 17.1.1. Structure 1. Open with Transparent Purpose and Level Playing Field
- 17.1.2. Structure 2. Renegotiate Expectations About Participation
- 17.1.3. Structure 3. Rearrange the Room
- 17.1.4. The Point
- 17.1.5. Structure 4. Create a Platform for Doubt
- 17.1.6. Structure 5. What Do We Want to Create Together?
- 17.1.7. Structure 6. Creating a New Conversation
- 17.1.8. Structure 7. Choosing Commitment and Accountability
- 17.1.9. Structure 8. Positive Feedback
- 17.2. Checklist #9. Preparing for Implementation
- 17.3. Mixing Metaphor and Methodology
- 17.4. Checklist #10. Reviewing an Implementation Event
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17.1. Methods You Can Really Use
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18. Ethics and the Shadow Side of Consulting
- 18.1. The Promise
- 18.2. The Commercialization of Service
- 18.3. Growth Diminishes Can Undermine Service
- 18.4. Owning the Shadow—Some Thoughts on What to Do
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19. The Heart of the Matter
- 19.1. Choosing Learning over Teaching
- 19.2. The Struggle Is the Solution
- 19.3. Insight Resides in Moments of Tension
- 19.4. Capacities Bear More Fruit Than Deficiencies
- 19.5. We Are Responsible for One Another's Learning
- 19.6. Culture Changes in the Moment
- 19.7. If Change Is So Wonderful, Why Don't You Go First?
- 19.8. The Final Question Is One of Faith
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A. Another Checklist You Can Use
- A.1. To Get an Overview
- A.2. Before You Negotiate Your Next Contract, Remember . . .
- A.3. Before You Go into the Data Collection and Discovery Phase of Your Next Project, Remember . . .
- A.4. Before You Go into the Feedback Phase of Your Next Project, Remember . . .
- A.5. When You Encounter Resistance, Remember . . .
- A.6. Before You Go into the Implementation Phase of Your Next Project, Remember . . .
- A.7. To Create an Ethical Practice, Remember . . .
- Suggestions for Further Reading
- About the Author
Product information
- Title: Peter Block Flawless Consulting: A Guide To Getting Your Expertise Used, Second Edition
- Author(s):
- Release date: September 1999
- Publisher(s): Pfeiffer
- ISBN: 9780787948030
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