The Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully
Tags: #business #consulting #communication #problem-solving #relationships #change management
Authors: Gerald M. Weinberg
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Overview
This book serves as a practical and insightful guide for consultants of all types, offering a collection of principles, strategies, and anecdotes to navigate the complexities of driving change. It emphasizes the importance of understanding human behavior, managing expectations, and building trust to amplify one’s impact without resorting to forceful or manipulative tactics. The book delves into the paradoxical nature of consulting, where logic alone is often insufficient to address the deeply rooted issues clients face. It challenges common misconceptions about consulting, revealing the inherent challenges, the importance of embracing failure, and the subtle art of ‘jiggling’ stuck systems to unlock their potential. The book underscores that effective consulting is not about imposing solutions but about empowering clients to see their world more clearly and make their own informed decisions. It encourages consultants to be mindful of their own biases and limitations, to be attentive listeners, and to leverage the power of stories and humor to convey their message effectively. The book’s relevance extends beyond professional consultants, offering valuable insights for anyone seeking to navigate change, improve communication, and build more productive relationships in any organizational setting.
Book Outline
1. Chapter 1. Why Consulting Is So Tough
This chapter introduces the fundamental challenges of consulting, dispelling common misconceptions about its ease and glamour. It highlights the inherent difficulties in driving change and the critical need for consultants to understand the often-hidden dynamics at play.
Key concept: Consulting ain’t as easy as it looks.
2. Chapter 2. Cultivating A Paradoxical Frame Of Mind
This chapter encourages consultants to embrace a paradoxical mindset, recognizing that logic alone is often insufficient to address complex, real-world problems. Clients often find themselves ‘stuck’ precisely because logic has failed them, and a more flexible, adaptable approach is needed.
Key concept: Don’t be rational; be reasonable.
3. Chapter 3. Being Effective When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing
This chapter explores the concept of leveraging existing self-healing mechanisms within systems, drawing an analogy to the medical field. Just as the body possesses inherent wisdom to heal, many organizations have intrinsic problem-solving capacities that can be activated with minimal intervention.
Key concept: Ninety percent of all illness cures itself—with absolutely no intervention from the doctor.
3. Chapter 3. Being Effective When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing
This chapter, using the analogy of spreading raspberry jam, underscores the inherent tradeoff between maximizing influence and pursuing affluence. Consultants, trainers, lecturers, and authors all face this dilemma as they expand their reach, highlighting the need for strategic choices about their impact and earning potential.
Key concept: The wider you spread it, the thinner it gets.
3. Chapter 3. Being Effective When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing
This chapter introduces Sherbie’s Laws of Consulting, starting with the recognition that clients often downplay or conceal the true extent of their problems. Consultants must be attuned to these hidden dynamics and navigate them effectively.
Key concept: The First Law of Consulting: In spite of what your client may tell you, there’s always a problem.
3. Chapter 3. Being Effective When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing
This chapter emphasizes the human element at the heart of most consulting challenges. Even seemingly technical problems can often be traced to underlying issues of communication, motivation, or organizational structure.
Key concept: The Second Law of Consulting: No matter how it looks at first, it’s always a people problem.
3. Chapter 3. Being Effective When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing
This chapter highlights the delicate balance between providing value to clients and managing their expectations. Consultants must avoid the trap of overpromising solutions while recognizing that clients often seek alibis as much as they seek actual change.
Key concept: The Third Law of Consulting: Never forget they’re paying you by the hour, not by the solution.
3. Chapter 3. Being Effective When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing
This chapter warns against the occupational hazard of offering unsolicited advice. Consultants must focus on addressing the specific needs of their clients, respecting their autonomy, and resisting the urge to intervene in areas outside their scope of engagement.
Key concept: The Fourth Law of Consulting: If they didn’t hire you, don’t solve their problem.
4. Chapter 4. Seeing What’s There
This chapter, through The Law of the Hammer, cautions against overreliance on specialized tools or approaches. Consultants must be adaptable and avoid forcing every problem to fit their pre-existing solutions.
Key concept: The child who receives a hammer for Christmas will discover that everything needs pounding.
5. Chapter 5. Seeing What’s Not There
This chapter, through The Label Law, emphasizes the importance of looking beyond superficial labels or descriptions. Consultants must delve deeper to understand the underlying realities of a situation, avoiding the trap of getting caught up in appearances or preconceived notions.
Key concept: Most of us buy the label, not the merchandise.
5. Chapter 5. Seeing What’s Not There
This chapter introduces The Five-Minute Rule, suggesting that the solutions to client problems often lie hidden within the initial information they provide. Consultants must be attentive listeners, adept at extracting key insights from the wealth of data presented to them.
Key concept: Clients always know how to solve their problems, and always tell the solution in the first five minutes.
5. Chapter 5. Seeing What’s Not There
This chapter revisits The Law of Raspberry Jam, highlighting the tradeoff between maximizing influence and pursuing financial wealth. Consultants must make strategic choices about their desired impact, recognizing that the pursuit of affluence can often dilute their effectiveness.
Key concept: Influence or affluence; take your choice.
5. Chapter 5. Seeing What’s Not There
This chapter explores The Bolden Rule, which involves reframing limitations or failures as unique selling points. Consultants can leverage this approach to turn apparent weaknesses into opportunities, showcasing their creativity and adaptability.
Key concept: If you can’t fix it, feature it.
5. Chapter 5. Seeing What’s Not There
This chapter introduces The Inverse Gilded Rule, which encourages consultants to identify and address underlying problems concealed by superficial appearances or deceptive language. By stripping away the gilding, consultants can expose the real issues that need attention.
Key concept: If something’s faked, it must need fixing.
6. Chapter 6. Avoiding Traps
This chapter delves into the importance of managing time effectively, particularly the tradeoff between immediate needs and future considerations. Just as Alice learns from the Mad Hatter, consultants must understand the subjective nature of time and its impact on decision-making.
Key concept: If you knew Time as well as I do,” said the Hatter, “you wouldn’t talk about wasting it. It’s him.
6. Chapter 6. Avoiding Traps
This chapter explores Fisher’s Fundamental Theorem, highlighting the inherent tension between present success and future adaptability. Consultants, being less adapted to a client’s existing situation, often possess a unique perspective that can spark innovation and drive necessary change.
Key concept: The better adapted you are, the less adaptable you tend to be.
6. Chapter 6. Avoiding Traps
This chapter introduces The Third-Time Charm, observing that consultants often achieve their greatest impact after building a relationship with a client over time. It emphasizes the value of sustained engagement and the trust that develops through repeated interactions.
Key concept: Consultants tend to be most effective on the third problem you give them.
6. Chapter 6. Avoiding Traps
This chapter presents The Orange Juice Test, a method for assessing a consultant’s ability to realistically address a challenge while considering its associated costs and complexities. It encourages consultants to be transparent about their capabilities and limitations.
Key concept: We can do it—and this is how much it will cost.
7. Chapter 7. Amplifying Your Impact
This chapter focuses on The Law of the Jiggle, emphasizing that small interventions can often have a disproportionately large impact. Consultants should strive to amplify their influence by subtly shifting perspectives rather than imposing forceful solutions.
Key concept: Less is more.
7. Chapter 7. Amplifying Your Impact
This chapter introduces Boulding’s Backward Basis, highlighting the value of understanding the historical context of a problem. By tracing the evolution of a situation, consultants can identify patterns, avoid repeating past mistakes, and leverage successful approaches.
Key concept: Things are the way they are because they got that way.
7. Chapter 7. Amplifying Your Impact
This chapter presents The Three-Finger Rule, reminding consultants to be aware of their own biases and contributions to a problem. When assigning blame or identifying issues, consultants must acknowledge their role in shaping the situation.
Key concept: When you point a finger at someone, notice where the other three fingers are pointing.
7. Chapter 7. Amplifying Your Impact
This chapter explores The Level Law, suggesting that effectively addressing problems leads to a more balanced distribution of challenges. When a single problem dominates, it indicates potential weaknesses in problem-solving strategies or prioritization.
Key concept: Effective problem-solvers may have many problems, but rarely have a single, dominant problem.
7. Chapter 7. Amplifying Your Impact
This chapter introduces Brown’s Brilliant Bequest, emphasizing the importance of paying attention to nonverbal cues and emotional undercurrents. Consultants must be attuned to the ‘music’ of a situation, both in their clients and in themselves, to uncover hidden meanings and unspoken feelings.
Key concept: Words are often useful, but it always pays to listen to the music (especially your own internal music).
8. Chapter 8. Gaining Control of Change
This chapter presents Prescott’s Pickle Principle, highlighting the tendency for small systems attempting to change larger systems to be changed themselves. Consultants must be aware of this dynamic and manage their engagement to avoid becoming overly absorbed by their clients’ culture or worldview.
Key concept: Cucumbers get more pickled than brine gets cucumbered.
8. Chapter 8. Gaining Control of Change
This chapter introduces Romer’s Rule, emphasizing that the most significant changes often arise from efforts to resist change. Consultants can leverage this principle by understanding their clients’ deepest values and identifying areas where clinging to the status quo may be counterproductive.
Key concept: The best way to lose something is to struggle to keep it.
9. Chapter 9. How to Make Changes Safely
This chapter explores Pandora’s Pox, highlighting the human tendency to embrace novelty despite the high failure rate of new endeavors. Consultants must manage expectations and help clients navigate the risks associated with change, while recognizing the powerful influence of hope.
Key concept: Nothing new ever works, but there’s always hope that this time will be different.
9. Chapter 9. How to Make Changes Safely
This chapter presents The Edsel Edict, a preventive measure against the risks associated with multiple simultaneous changes. By limiting the scope of novelty, consultants can help clients manage complexity and reduce the likelihood of overwhelming failures.
Key concept: If you must have something new, take one, not two.
9. Chapter 9. How to Make Changes Safely
This chapter introduces The Time Bomb, emphasizing that haste and time pressure often lead to costly mistakes. Consultants must encourage clients to allow sufficient time for planning, implementation, and adaptation to mitigate the risks associated with change.
Key concept: Time wounds all heels.
10. Chapter 10. What to Do When They Resist
This chapter explores the nature of client resistance, reframing it as a natural response to perceived threats or uncertainties. Consultants must understand the underlying motivations behind resistance and work collaboratively with clients to address their concerns.
Key concept: “Resistance” is the consultant’s label. To the client, it is “safety.”
11. Chapter 11. Marketing Your Services
This chapter introduces The Second Law of Marketing, emphasizing the importance of building a reputation and track record of success. Clients are more likely to engage consultants who have demonstrated their effectiveness with other clients.
Key concept: The best way to get clients is to have clients.
11. Chapter 11. Marketing Your Services
This chapter highlights The Fourth Law of Marketing, reminding consultants that their focus should always be on serving the needs of their clients. Consultants must prioritize building lasting relationships over short-term gains or self-promotion.
Key concept: Clients are more important to you than you can ever be to them.
11. Chapter 11. Marketing Your Services
This chapter explores The Duncan Hines Difference, suggesting that clients value solutions more when they have actively participated in their creation. Consultants should involve clients in the process, encouraging their ownership and contribution to ensure long-term satisfaction.
Key concept: It tastes better when you add your own egg.
12. Chapter 12. Putting a Price on Your Head
This chapter explores the multifaceted nature of pricing, recognizing its role in shaping perceptions, establishing value, and influencing client behavior. Consultants must consider the psychological and strategic implications of pricing, rather than simply focusing on monetary exchange.
Key concept: Pricing has many functions, only one of which is the exchange of money.
12. Chapter 12. Putting a Price on Your Head
This chapter introduces The Second Law of Pricing, suggesting that, within a certain range, clients tend to value consultants more when they charge higher fees. Higher prices can signal greater expertise and increase client commitment to the engagement.
Key concept: The more they pay you, the more they love you.
12. Chapter 12. Putting a Price on Your Head
This chapter highlights The Third Law of Pricing, emphasizing that the true cost of consulting extends beyond monetary fees. Clients invest time, effort, and emotional capital in the engagement, and these factors must be considered when setting prices.
Key concept: The money is usually the smallest part of the price.
12. Chapter 12. Putting a Price on Your Head
This chapter presents The Fourth Law of Pricing, suggesting that consultants can create mutually beneficial arrangements with clients without resorting to adversarial price negotiations. By aligning incentives and finding common ground, consultants can create value for both parties.
Key concept: Pricing is not a zero-sum game.
12. Chapter 12. Putting a Price on Your Head
This chapter introduces The Fifth Law of Pricing, advising consultants against taking on engagements solely for financial gain. Desperation for money can lead to poor decision-making, unrealistic promises, and ultimately damage the consultant’s reputation.
Key concept: If you need the money, don’t take the job.
12. Chapter 12. Putting a Price on Your Head
This chapter presents The Sixth Law of Pricing, emphasizing the importance of client satisfaction and aligning financial incentives with delivered value. Consultants should be willing to forgo payment if their work does not meet the client’s expectations.
Key concept: If they don’t like your work, don’t take their money.
12. Chapter 12. Putting a Price on Your Head
This chapter explores The Seventh Law of Pricing, highlighting that monetary transactions can be used strategically to create conditions for success. By structuring fees creatively, consultants can influence client behavior, encourage commitment, and manage risk.
Key concept: Money is more than price.
12. Chapter 12. Putting a Price on Your Head
This chapter introduces The Eighth Law of Pricing, emphasizing that price setting is a collaborative process involving open communication and mutual understanding. Consultants should engage in transparent negotiations with clients to establish a fair and mutually beneficial agreement.
Key concept: Price is not a thing; it’s a negotiated relationship.
12. Chapter 12. Putting a Price on Your Head
This chapter presents The Ninth Law of Pricing, known as the Principle of Least Regret. Consultants should set fees that align with their personal values and preferences, minimizing potential regret regardless of whether the client accepts or rejects the offer.
Key concept: Set the price so you won’t regret it either way.
12. Chapter 12. Putting a Price on Your Head
This chapter introduces The Tenth Law of Pricing, highlighting the emotional underpinnings of pricing decisions. Consultants must acknowledge and understand both their own feelings and their clients’ feelings about value, worth, and financial exchange to arrive at a mutually satisfactory agreement.
Key concept: All prices are ultimately based on feelings, both yours and theirs.
13. Chapter 13. How To Be Trusted
This chapter explores The First Law of Trust, emphasizing that building trust requires consistent action rather than explanations or justifications. Consultants must focus on delivering on their commitments, as clients are more concerned with results than with excuses for failures.
Key concept: Nobody but you cares about the reason you let another person down.
13. Chapter 13. How To Be Trusted
This chapter presents The Second Law of Trust, highlighting the fragility of trust and the ease with which it can be broken. Consultants must be vigilant in maintaining their trustworthiness, as even small lapses can have significant consequences.
Key concept: Trust takes years to win, moments to lose.
13. Chapter 13. How To Be Trusted
This chapter introduces The Third Law of Trust, pointing out that clients often withdraw their trust silently rather than confronting the consultant. Consultants must be attuned to subtle signs of eroding trust and proactively address potential issues to maintain open communication and collaboration.
Key concept: People don’t tell you when they stop trusting you.
13. Chapter 13. How To Be Trusted
This chapter presents The Fourth Law of Trust, emphasizing the importance of authenticity and transparency in building trust. Consultants should avoid manipulative tactics or hidden agendas, instead opting for straightforward communication and genuine intentions.
Key concept: The trick of earning trust is to avoid all tricks.
13. Chapter 13. How To Be Trusted
This chapter explores The Fifth Law of Trust, suggesting that individuals often rationalize or reinterpret events to maintain a positive self-image, even when their actions may appear dishonest to others. Consultants must recognize this tendency and avoid assigning blame or making judgments based on perceived dishonesty.
Key concept: People are never liars—in their own eyes.
13. Chapter 13. How To Be Trusted
This chapter introduces The Sixth Law of Trust, which balances trusting clients’ intentions with a healthy skepticism about their ability to provide accurate information. Consultants should assume good faith but verify information through multiple sources to ensure a clear understanding of the situation.
Key concept: Always trust your client—and cut the cards.
13. Chapter 13. How To Be Trusted
This chapter emphasizes The Seventh Law of Trust, highlighting the importance of maintaining personal integrity, even when faced with pressure from clients to compromise ethical standards. Consultants must be willing to refuse requests for dishonest actions to preserve their long-term trustworthiness.
Key concept: Never be dishonest, even if the client requests it.
13. Chapter 13. How To Be Trusted
This chapter presents The Eighth Law of Trust, advising consultants to avoid making promises they cannot guarantee to keep. Uncertainty about the future can lead to broken promises, which erode trust and damage relationships.
Key concept: Never promise anything.
13. Chapter 13. How To Be Trusted
This chapter introduces The Ninth Law of Trust, emphasizing the paramount importance of fulfilling commitments made to clients. Consultants must prioritize upholding their promises, even when circumstances change or challenges arise, to maintain their reliability and trustworthiness.
Key concept: Always keep your promise.
13. Chapter 13. How To Be Trusted
This chapter explores The Tenth Law of Trust, highlighting that written agreements, while valuable for clarity and preventing misunderstandings, cannot substitute for genuine trust between consultant and client. When trust is lacking, even the most detailed contract becomes meaningless.
Key concept: Get it in writing, but depend on trust.
14. Chapter 14. Getting People to Follow Your Advice
This chapter, drawing on lessons from farming, emphasizes the importance of starting with high-quality ideas, analogous to using good seed. Just as investing in quality seed yields better crops, investing time and effort in developing sound ideas is crucial for successful consulting.
Key concept: Never use cheap seed.
Essential Questions
1. Why is a paradoxical frame of mind essential for effective consulting?
Consultants must learn to navigate a world where logic often fails and clients may not even be aware of the true nature of their problems. By embracing paradox, accepting the possibility of failure, and focusing on reasonableness over rationality, consultants can better adapt to the ever-changing landscape of client needs and challenges. This requires a shift in mindset from seeking ‘correct’ answers to exploring multiple perspectives and uncovering hidden dynamics.
2. How can consultants leverage self-awareness and a willingness to learn from others to amplify their impact?
The book argues that effectively helping others often begins with addressing one’s own limitations and biases. Consultants must understand their own strengths and weaknesses, be aware of their own emotional reactions, and actively seek out diverse perspectives to avoid falling into the traps of their own expertise or preconceived notions. By continuously learning and challenging their assumptions, consultants can better serve their clients and amplify their impact.
3. What are some fundamental principles that govern the dynamics of change and influence in consulting?
The book introduces several key principles, including ‘The Law of Raspberry Jam,’ which highlights the tradeoff between maximizing influence and pursuing affluence, and ‘Romer’s Rule,’ which emphasizes that the most significant changes often originate in attempts to resist change. By understanding these principles, consultants can make strategic choices about their impact, earning potential, and approach to navigating client resistance. It emphasizes that focusing solely on money or forcing change can be counterproductive, and that a more nuanced understanding of human behavior is crucial for achieving lasting results.
4. How can consultants use pricing as a strategic tool to ensure client respect, manage expectations, and create the conditions for a successful engagement?
The book argues that setting the right price is about much more than just monetary exchange. It’s a tool for shaping perceptions, managing expectations, and establishing a healthy consultant-client relationship. By understanding the psychological and emotional factors at play, consultants can use price to screen clients, ensure commitment, and create the conditions for success. It emphasizes that undervaluing oneself can lead to disrespect and lack of engagement, while overpricing can create unrealistic expectations and lead to eventual disappointment. Finding the ‘right’ price involves a balance of perceived value, client willingness to pay, and the consultant’s own comfort and confidence in delivering the promised service.
5. What are the key principles and strategies for building and maintaining trust in a consultant-client relationship, especially when navigating sensitive situations or client resistance?
Building trust is paramount in consulting. It requires consistent action, honesty, open communication, and a willingness to prioritize the client’s needs above one’s own ego or desire for control. Consultants must resist the temptation to use manipulative tactics or offer empty promises, instead focusing on delivering value, respecting boundaries, and actively listening to understand the client’s perspective. They must also be aware of the fragility of trust and the ease with which it can be broken, taking proactive measures to address potential issues and maintain transparency throughout the engagement.
Key Takeaways
1. The most effective consultant empowers the client, not just solves the problem.
This book emphasizes that consulting is not about showcasing one’s brilliance but about facilitating change and enabling clients to see their own world more clearly. The most satisfying approach is not solving the problem for the client but empowering them to solve it themselves and learn how to prevent similar problems in the future. This principle applies to all types of consulting, from organizational change to technical problem solving.
Practical Application:
For an AI engineer, this could be applied to product design. Instead of focusing solely on creating the most technically sophisticated product, consider the human factors. How will users interact with the product? What are their needs and pain points? How can the product be designed to be intuitive, accessible, and enjoyable to use?
2. There are always tradeoffs in consulting, and recognizing them is essential for success.
The book repeatedly emphasizes the concept of ‘tradeoffs’ - the idea that you can’t get something for nothing. Every decision, every change, comes with a cost. Recognizing these tradeoffs is crucial for setting realistic expectations, managing client demands, and finding solutions that address the core problem without creating new ones. It also helps consultants to avoid the trap of promising the impossible, which ultimately erodes trust and undermines their effectiveness.
Practical Application:
When designing AI safety mechanisms, consider the inherent tradeoff between maximizing safety and preserving functionality. Overly restrictive safety measures might hinder the AI’s ability to learn and adapt. Conversely, prioritizing performance over safety could lead to unforeseen consequences. The key is to find a balance that allows the AI to operate effectively while mitigating potential risks.
3. Look beyond the obvious symptoms to identify the root cause of a problem.
The book emphasizes the importance of looking beyond the surface level of a problem to uncover the underlying causes. Consultants must be skilled at identifying root causes, even when they are masked by more obvious symptoms. This involves careful observation, questioning, listening to the ‘music’ of the situation, and recognizing that the client’s perspective, while valuable, may not always be accurate or complete. Addressing the root cause, even if it’s more difficult, is essential for achieving lasting results.
Practical Application:
In an AI development team, when a team member consistently delivers buggy code, focusing solely on their coding errors may be misdirected. The deeper issue might be a lack of understanding of the design specifications, inadequate testing tools, or even personal stress impacting performance. Addressing the underlying cause rather than the symptom is more likely to lead to lasting improvement.
4. Eliminating one problem often simply promotes another one, so focus on managing problems strategically.
The author introduces ‘Rudy’s Rutabaga Rule,’ which states that eliminating one problem simply promotes the next one in line. This highlights the interconnected nature of problems and the need to address them strategically. Often, the most effective solution is not to eliminate problems entirely but to manage them in a way that minimizes their impact and creates a more balanced and resilient system.
Practical Application:
An AI product manager could apply this to effective meetings. Instead of simply trying to shorten meeting times, they could identify the underlying causes of wasted time, such as unclear agendas, lack of preparation, or ineffective communication. Addressing these root causes can lead to more productive and engaging meetings, improving both efficiency and team morale.
5. Honesty and transparency are crucial for building trust and ensuring long-term success.
The author repeatedly emphasizes the importance of honesty and transparency in building trust with clients. Consultants must avoid making promises they cannot keep, exaggerating their abilities, or concealing information that might impact the client’s decision-making. Even when tempted to ‘gild’ their work to make it appear more attractive, consultants should prioritize authenticity and open communication to establish a foundation of trust that will lead to lasting success.
Practical Application:
An AI engineer developing a new algorithm might feel tempted to oversell its capabilities to secure funding or recognition. However, overpromising can lead to disappointment and damage trust if the algorithm fails to meet expectations. By being transparent about limitations and focusing on delivering real value, the engineer can build credibility and ensure the long-term success of the project.
Suggested Deep Dive
Chapter: Chapter 7. Amplifying Your Impact
This chapter contains many insightful concepts and strategies for amplifying a consultant’s impact without resorting to forceful methods. It’s particularly relevant for AI engineers working on products or systems that involve human interaction and require a deep understanding of user behavior and psychology. The concepts of ‘The Law of the Jiggle’ and ‘Boulding’s Backward Basis’ can offer valuable insights for designing more effective and human-centered solutions.
Memorable Quotes
Chapter 1. Why Consulting Is So Tough. 12
Consulting ain’t as easy as it looks.
Chapter 2. Cultivating A Paradoxical Frame Of Mind. 37
Don’t be rational; be reasonable.
Chapter 1. Why Consulting Is So Tough. 23
Influence or affluence; take your choice.
Chapter 3. Being Effective When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing. 66
If you can’t fix it, feature it.
Chapter 4. Seeing What’s There. 85
Things are the way they are because they got that way.
Comparative Analysis
Compared to other books on consulting like Peter Block’s ‘Flawless Consulting,’ this book delves deeper into the psychology of both the consultant and the client. While Block focuses on process and structure, Weinberg explores the emotional undercurrents and often irrational drivers of resistance. Unlike more business-oriented guides like those by Greiner and Metzger or Robert Kelley, Weinberg’s approach is less about ‘selling’ consulting services and more about understanding the human dynamics that make consulting successful (or not). This book stands out for its use of humor and storytelling, making the often-complex concepts relatable and memorable. It acknowledges the limitations of purely rational approaches and encourages consultants to embrace paradox and uncertainty.
Reflection
The book ‘The Secrets of Consulting’ offers a valuable and insightful perspective on the consulting profession, but it’s important to recognize its limitations. Its strength lies in its emphasis on human psychology, communication, and building trust. However, the book’s heavy reliance on anecdotes and personal experience can make its applicability to all consulting situations questionable. Some of the ‘laws’ presented may not hold true universally, and the book’s tone can sometimes come across as overly cynical or self-deprecating. Despite these limitations, the book’s core message of understanding human dynamics, embracing paradox, and focusing on client empowerment remains relevant and valuable, especially in today’s complex and rapidly changing world. Its insights are applicable not only to professional consultants but to anyone seeking to navigate change, influence others, and build more productive relationships in any organizational setting.
Flashcards
What is Marvin’s Law?
The consultant should advise something different from what the client is currently doing, offering a fresh perspective or approach.
What is The Credit Rule?
You’ll never accomplish anything if you care who gets the credit.
What is The Law of Raspberry Jam?
Influence or affluence; take your choice.
What is The Titanic Effect?
The thought that disaster is impossible often leads to an unthinkable disaster.
What is The White Bread Warning?
If you use the same recipe, you get the same bread.
What is the consultant’s best asset?
The ability to find the problem in any situation.
What is the most important act in consulting?
Setting the right fee.
What is Rudy’s Rutabaga Rule?
Once you eliminate your number one problem, number two gets a promotion.
What is Boulding’s Backward Basis?
Things are the way they are because they got that way.