Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used (book)

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.

...basically, anyone who creates change in any way can benefit from this book. I highly recommend this book.

As a contractor/consultant on my second long-term assignment, this title caught my eye and served for listening on the commute.

Overall I was impressed. Much of what is presented is common sense and deals with the simple themes of professional and personal integtity.

To put it simply, it focuses upon those things you can control as a consultant and provides a basis upon which to minimize the things you cannot control.

Success can only ultimately be measured by the things you control. Clients have their own agendas, their own goals and their own motivations that may or may not result in "success" on your end. If on the other hand, you find value and derive satisfaction from the things you can control; namely your effort, your integrity, your truthfulness and your end product, then you will be able to succeed and can even perform flawlessly regardless of the ultimate outcome.

If you can focus on those elements and find your satisfaction there, you can make any assignment a success even if in the end your recomendations are rejected or altered.

These are basic principals that apply in many settings and relationships. It is refreshing to see them applied here and the reminder and power of these combined with the practical suggestions were powerful and valuable.

As an audio book there are a few technical shortcomings which are why I give the work 4 stars instead of 5. The narrator is good and keeps the delivery well paced and easy to listen to. The discs however do not end with a message that the side is finished and to change the discs. I found that annoying and started listening to the side again. I suspect the masters from cassette tapes were used and then not remastered for this format and it was a shame for a quality book to be diminished by this lack of attention and care to such an important element. I found it ironic given the emphasis on excellence portrayed in the book. Wiley should have perhaps listened closer and focused on their own excellence in that regard.

Overall however the content far exceeds the inconvenience and it is a worthwhile listen.

This new edition of Flawless Consulting is significant upgrade from the classic work that established the foundation principles used by internal and external consultants alike. It provides an excellent set of primary tools that can be useful for any individual that serves a client.

Block's basic consulting model acts as a roadmap to give direction to the consulting process. The author skillfully overlays the issues of collaboration, control and resistance with clear steps for addressing them. Many consulting failures can be attributed to handling these issues poorly. Peter Block does an excellent job of describing to the reader what is important and how a consultant can manage the issues well.

I appreciated the step-by-step instructions provided for navigating the consulting phases. It made it much easier to understand how to apply the concepts Block was describing for each step. I also found helpful his checklists for navigating a client meeting especially when it involves the challenging issues of contracting and providing feedback to the client.

Flawless Consulting is a must-read for anyone serving clients within an organization or acting as an external consultant. The principles presented are simple without being simplistic and have broad application to many different types of engagements.

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.