How consulting skills helped technical experts move beyond solutions to create meaningful & lasting change.
“Once engineers feel it’s okay to not have all the answers, they can truly collaborate. Waking up to these new dimensions of their work is good for the engineer and the organization.”
OVERVIEW
Engineers are known for their technical mastery and problem-solving skills. Yet even the most brilliant solutions can fall flat when relationships and collaboration are missing. Many engineers found that their work wasn’t being implemented—not because their ideas weren’t sound, but because the people around the problem weren’t fully engaged.
OBJECTIVES
The goal was to help engineers:
SOLUTION
Through Flawless Consulting, engineers learned to shift from being the “expert with answers” to a partner in discovery.
They practiced building connections, clarifying roles, and engaging clients early in defining the problem.
One participant shared how he returned to a site five times to fix the same furnace issue—until he addressed the real cause: a lack of communication and preventive maintenance. “Acting as a true consultant meant realizing the technical fix needed a human one,” he said.
Another noted, “It never occurred to me that a plant manager would welcome the advice of a technical person beyond the widget level. Earning that welcome takes new skills.”
IMPACT
Engineers began to see themselves, and be seen, as trusted partners, not just problem-solvers.
“Once engineers feel it’s okay to not have all the answers, they can truly collaborate. Waking up to these new dimensions of their work is good for the engineer
