This Third Edition to Peter Block′s Flawless Consulting addresses business changes and new challenges since the second edition was written ten years ago. It tackles the challenges next–generation consultants face, including more guidance on how to ask better questions, dealing with difficult clients, working in an increasingly virtual world, how to cope with complexities in international consulting, case studies, and guidelines on implementation. Also included are illustrative examples and exercises to help you cement the guides offered.
Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used
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From the Inside Flap
When the landmark best–seller Flawless Consulting was first published more than three decades ago, it was quickly adopted as the "consultant′s bible." With his legendary warmth and passion, Peter Block explained how to deal effectively with clients, peers, and others. The book continues to speak to people in a support function inside organizations as well as to external consultants. This thoroughly revised and updated third edition of Peter Block′s groundbreaking book explores the latest thinking on consultation. It includes new insights about how we can organize our consulting around discovering the strengths, positive examples, and gifts of the client organization or community. The book remains a practical and specific guide for anyone who needs to develop a capacity for deeper relatedness and partnership—which means it is for all who wish to make a real difference in the world. This new edition covers the consulting challenges that have arisen from the way we routinely communicate electronically and live in the virtual world. Block suggests ways to overcome the distancing and isolating effects inherent in electronic connects. The book also includes practical guidance on how to ask better questions, gives suggestions for dealing with difficult clients, and contains expanded guidelines on more engaging forms of implementation. Flawless Consulting includes two new examples, taken from health care and educational reform efforts, to show how consulting skills can be useful (and often transformative) in a broader context. These illustrative examples point the way for achieving changes for leadership in business, government, religion, human services, and more. Like the first two editions, Flawless Consulting affirms the notion that authentic behavior and personal relationships are the key to technical and business success. By demonstrating their ability to be truly authentic at each step in the process, consultants can aim toward creating workplaces that are more collaborative and ultimately more successful.
From the Back Cover
Praise for the third edition of Flawless Consulting "Consulting at its best is about action and interaction, relationships and results. In a highly readable guide that is both inspirational and practical, Peter Block leads consultant and client together through a proven approach to realize their future." — Samuel R. Strickl and chief financial and administrative officer, Booz Allen Hamilton "Surpasses the high standards of relevance, clarity, and wisdom characteristic of previous versions. . . . Whether one′s consulting experience spans five years or fifty, there is a great deal in this new edition to prompt us to reflect on our own practice and to discuss with colleagues." — Roger Harrison , independent consultant and author of Consultant′s Journey: A Dance of Work and Spirit and The Collected Papers of Roger Harrison "Peter Block has written a masterful third edition of his masterpiece, Flawless Consulting. Important additions to the third edition are the strength–based strategies that many are beginning to use . . . in solving seemingly intractable problems in health care and other industries. They are featured in a new Chapter Twelve and form a common thread that runs through this entire path–breaking book." — Jon C. Lloyd , MD, FACS senior associate, Positive Deviance Initiative; clinical advisor, Plexus Institute "Peter′s masterwork, Flawless Consulting, has been my go–to guide since the first edition. . . . Flawless Consulting is not just a practical, useful, and inviting book for practitioners. It′s all those things, but it′s also a book about some of the most vexing issues we face when consulting to organizations—issues of resistance, truth, doubt, vulnerability, and accountability. If you find yourself giving advice to people making choices, then this book is a must–have for you. Buy it today, use it tomorrow." — Jim Kouzes , award–winning coauthor of the best–selling The Leadership Challenge and The Truth About Leadership , and Dean′s Executive Professor of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University "My company uses this book as our primary guide to consultant skills. Interestingly, our most experienced consultants value the insights from Flawless Consulting the most. It has made a big difference in how we think about and work with clients." — TØnnes Ingebrigtsen , CEO, mnemonic as
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I have dipped in and out of this wonderful book countless times and each time I get something new from it. Apart from, as the title suggests, it being a consultancy guide it is also a great book for any manager to have in their toolkit. Although essentially text, the book is peppered with some really amusing drawings as well as checklists etc. to support the messages that are being conveyed.
What I like about the book it that it has no pomposity at all and is geared to facilitating the consultant to support the client in arriving at their own solution. Peter Block is open about his own vulnerabilities and hang ups too. The focus of the book is about selling your expertise (less in financial and more in credibility terms).It goes on to deal with using your expertise, but, with a great insight into the human aspects of that, such as building credibility, overcoming resistance, dealing with awkward (or even flirtatious!) clients, recognising bias and learning over teaching etc. There are numerous examples of situations and outcomes in the book.
This book is clearly written by a titan of management/consulting, but, also someone whose feet are firmly grounded and who applies his insight into the practical and human aspects of managing consultancy. A really, really good book. Recommended.
What I like about the book it that it has no pomposity at all and is geared to facilitating the consultant to support the client in arriving at their own solution. Peter Block is open about his own vulnerabilities and hang ups too. The focus of the book is about selling your expertise (less in financial and more in credibility terms).It goes on to deal with using your expertise, but, with a great insight into the human aspects of that, such as building credibility, overcoming resistance, dealing with awkward (or even flirtatious!) clients, recognising bias and learning over teaching etc. There are numerous examples of situations and outcomes in the book.
This book is clearly written by a titan of management/consulting, but, also someone whose feet are firmly grounded and who applies his insight into the practical and human aspects of managing consultancy. A really, really good book. Recommended.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By zenadox
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
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The only small critisim I would give this book is that it is a little long winded in parts, and some lengthy paragraphs could be be summarised by bullet points or diagrams so you can map them easier in your mind an remember the points.
On the positive side, the book is jam packed with information. Honestly, you would have to read it several times to take it all in, and defintely have to make notes as you go long. You almost need a pocket version to remember the wide range of areas covered from the steps you go through as a consultant life cycle to the reactions from the client.
I like the parts on how to difuse situations and understanding what clients really mean when they say certain phrases. Also, the book highlights the importance of reading body language. There are so many other interesting topics covered including how to structure the agreements with clients and when to pull out.
I would recommend the book for sure.
On the positive side, the book is jam packed with information. Honestly, you would have to read it several times to take it all in, and defintely have to make notes as you go long. You almost need a pocket version to remember the wide range of areas covered from the steps you go through as a consultant life cycle to the reactions from the client.
I like the parts on how to difuse situations and understanding what clients really mean when they say certain phrases. Also, the book highlights the importance of reading body language. There are so many other interesting topics covered including how to structure the agreements with clients and when to pull out.
I would recommend the book for sure.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
When I first started this book, it seemed to be very padded. Essentially I felt like what I was reading was a lot of fluff about what a consultant is and does. It felt very much like a manual on how to blag yourself into a job.
However with later chapters, I was completely convinced that the writer not only believes with every ounce of their body what they say, but also practices what they preach. The advice has practical use at many levels of an organisation and it really helps to read about tactics and strategies toward becoming a good consultant from somebody that has successfully seen their advice acted upon many times, as well as highlighting times where their expertise has sometimes failed and helping us avoid those pitfalls.
Essentially we are all consultants, in whatever job we are in. I feel more confident when dealing with co-workers and appreciate that the greatest skill of a consultant is finding the points where we as humans are falliable, and addressing those concerns whilst ensuring that those parties with a stake in a project are adequately satisfied with the implementation. Regardless of your status, I thoroughly recommend this book if you simply wish to work better and more efficiently with your colleagues. We are not granted all this knowledge innately, and whilst some of the solutions sound simple, it can be hard to see the solution when placed into a particular situation. This book at least ensures you are adequately prepared for dealing with at least some of the unknown.
However with later chapters, I was completely convinced that the writer not only believes with every ounce of their body what they say, but also practices what they preach. The advice has practical use at many levels of an organisation and it really helps to read about tactics and strategies toward becoming a good consultant from somebody that has successfully seen their advice acted upon many times, as well as highlighting times where their expertise has sometimes failed and helping us avoid those pitfalls.
Essentially we are all consultants, in whatever job we are in. I feel more confident when dealing with co-workers and appreciate that the greatest skill of a consultant is finding the points where we as humans are falliable, and addressing those concerns whilst ensuring that those parties with a stake in a project are adequately satisfied with the implementation. Regardless of your status, I thoroughly recommend this book if you simply wish to work better and more efficiently with your colleagues. We are not granted all this knowledge innately, and whilst some of the solutions sound simple, it can be hard to see the solution when placed into a particular situation. This book at least ensures you are adequately prepared for dealing with at least some of the unknown.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great - if you already consult
A very sincerely written guide to improving your work as a consultant. Some of it is a bit flabby in parts, but you get used to skim reading the verbiage. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Supertzar
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very solid and useful
There is a reason this book has so many good reviews and is in its 3rd edition. It really is a strong guide to consulting, and has a very sensible clear layout. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Tim Bright - OneWorld Consulting
4.0 out of 5 stars
Advanced guide for professionals
This doesn't offer too many insights for the newbie, but on the other hand avoids the long stretches of 'stating the obvious' that typify most books of this kind. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Ray Blake
5.0 out of 5 stars
The only book to keep
I was given this book 30 years ago and I still have it and use it. It has taught me how t be an ethical and esteemed consultant. And critically how to remain myself. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Catherine Brady
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not really a beginners guide
I bought this to give me some guidance on getting my expertise used - but it was really a book for management consultants and was a bit over my head. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mimi in London
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb
This is a superb book, a classic, which I shall read again and again and again.
The subtitle frames the content well: A guide to getting your expertise used. Read more
The subtitle frames the content well: A guide to getting your expertise used. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Clarke
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brill
This is the best and only book any would-be consultant needs to read. I wish more actual consults read it too. Completely brilliant.
Published 19 months ago by Boomshanker
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great resource for consultants
Meanders a bit. He drags it out. But nonetheless a great resource on contracting and consulting behaviours more generally. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Peter W. Burden
5.0 out of 5 stars
The underlying work of the consultant
Just to pop an illusion, consultants do actually care about their work having value. Many get paid a high fee and their brief never comes to life. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Ross Boardman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
There is no doubt that the author knows what he is talking about and practices what he says. If the book has a fault it is a certain dryness in the text, but that should be... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Graham R. Hill
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