Author: Maya Mehta

Expressing Wants: A Basic Flawless Consulting Skill

Posted on by Maya Mehta

In the Flawless Consulting Skills workshops, we stress that you’ll want to change your conversations . . . the way you talk to your clients, your boss, and to each other. We see that new conversations will move you toward partnership. For example, in our initial conversation with our clients, our goal is to get an agreement on what we are going to do and how we are going to work together. We call this the Contracting Meeting. As consultants, we want to be clear about what we want to help the client be successful.

Expressing those wants often causes anxiety for the consultant. Consultants feel that to say, “I want . . .” is too direct, aggressive, potentially disrespectful, and may be harmful to building a partnership with the client. People often use national, regional, or corporate culture as a reason to not use these skills: “You can’t be that direct in this culture. Others won’t like it.”

This is more about our own anxiety (resistance) than the culture. It is a human issue. Being direct is uncomfortable for all of us. We are concerned that we will be misunderstood, be considered disrespectful, or anger the other person.

There are a variety of styles that people use to express expectations (wants), some more direct than others.

Here are some examples of how one might express a desire to interview the client’s direct reports . . .                                     

You could use… 

   Examples

Closed-ended questions

“Could I interview your direct reports?” (weak)

“Is it okay with you if I interview your direct reports?”  (weak—seeks permission)

Open-ended questions

“What’s the possibility of interviewing your direct reports?” (weak)

“What do you think about me interviewing your direct reports?” (weak)

Indirect Statements

“It would be helpful to talk to your direct reports.”  (may be confusing)

“Sometimes in projects like this, we try to interview the manager’s direct reports.” (may be confusing and get ignored)

Direct Statements

“I would like to interview your direct reports.”  (may get ignored)

“I need to interview your direct reports.”  (may sound aggressive)

“I want to interview your direct reports.”  (can negotiate)

Now, any of these might work and you’ll get what you want. I’ve used them all at one time or another. However, when I did, I often ended up with an agreement that needed to be clarified later.

The key is keeping our words direct, simple, specific, and descriptive AND our tones supportive, non-punishing, and non-judgmental. Stating a want with harsh or argumentative tone can be off-putting, while a weak or timid tine might get ignored.

When you try using these skills, start with people with whom you have a good relationship—don’t start with your toughest client! Also, listen to the language your clients use when they talk to you—you may find that they are direct with you. Partners speak the same language.

We believe that direct words and supportive tones are most effective in being clear and building partnerships. We also recognize that the style is your choice. Recognize that in choosing questions or indirect statements, you may be using a style that will not create the partnership you want.

I’d love to hear about your experiences in expressing your wants. Drop me a note. Let me know how it’s going.

Charles L Fields was a highly acclaimed Senior Consultant at Designed Learning and a lover of life. He traveled the world by car, rail, plane, and ship, watched the sunrise on Croagh Patrick, and set on Victoria Peak, weathered a perfect storm in the Pacific, bartered for a darbuka in the Grand Bazaar, prayed at Lord Nelson’s Sarcophagus, ate lunch in the oldest restaurant in the world. His prolific and thought-provoking writing contributed to the design and re-design of many DL products, including Flawless Consulting, Empowerment, and Stewardship. Charlie shared his passion for this body of work in over 25 countries. His impact is a blessing.

Get Back to Basics

Posted on by Maya Mehta

I find myself wondering how I can take my skills to the next level.  I have been an internal consultant for over 25 years. I continue to work at getting my expertise used and making a difference in my organization, my community, and the world.  As l look for experiences that will take me to the next level, I sometimes find myself seeking “Advanced” consulting skills.

What I have learned when I am struggling to use my skills and make a difference, is that I really need to go back to the basics.  World-class athletes have known for years that the key to top performance is going back to the basics. Golfers go back to their grip, stance, and set-up.  Baseball pitchers focus on their arm slot and grip on the ball. Quarterbacks work on their footwork and release point. Basketball players work on the five basics of dribbling, shooting, running, passing, and jumping. As consultants—internal and external—we need to go back to the basics of Flawless Consulting by asking ourselves these self-diagnostic questions:

1. What is the agreement I have with my clients?

2. Am I focused as much on the relationship as the technical part of the work?

3. Do I truly listen to my clients/partners and share back with them what I hear?

4. Do I give support to others by specifically sharing what I appreciate, and the impact it has on me and our work?

5. Do I ask for what I want, specifically, clearly, and with empathy?

6. Do I take time to get my own clear picture of the situation before sharing my recommendations or jumping into implementation?

7. Have I identified what my own contribution is to the exact thing I am complaining about?

We sometimes hear from participants in our Flawless Consulting Workshops that it is “too basic.”

When we explore this further, we find people think they are doing the basics of consulting, but in reality, they understand the basics but aren’t implementing the basics.

We can always advance our skills in the area of our technical expertise, but our consulting skills just need more practice with the basics.  When I coach individuals who are trying to get their expertise used, and they indicate they need more advanced skills, I discover several things:

  • They don’t put into words what they are experiencing.

  • They don’t listen and share with their clients what they hear.

  • They don’t ask for what they want.

  • They don’t recognize and manage resistance in themselves or their clients.

  • They don’t regularly share their appreciations (support) with others.

  • They quickly jump to implementation without taking the time to get a clear picture (discovery) of the situation.

  • They don’t provide feedback to others to get a collaborative decision to proceed to a solution that will be sustainable.

    Intellectually, Flawless Consulting is very basic.  It’s easy to understand and many people would say it is common sense.  Unfortunately, it isn’t common practice in many organizations. The hard part is implementing the basics.

    Here are the basic “Be’s”:

  • Be Authentic

  • Be Direct (Put into words what you are experiencing)

  • Be Compassionate (Empathetic)

  • Be a Model for the organization you want to create

    If you are struggling with getting your expertise used and you want to improve your business and personal relationships, get back to the basics!

 

Jeff Evans is a Vice President at Designed Learning and oversees delivery, product quality, and managing our team of international consultants. He’s been partnering with Designed Learning for over 25 years. He’s delivered training in more than ten countries to a diverse set of organizations and participants, including engineers, managers, manufacturing executives, healthcare professionals, human resources and IT.

Developing Flawless Clients

Posted on by Maya Mehta

Flawless Consulting is the popular workshop and book by Peter Block, which are designed to develop skills that increase an internal consultant’s ability to have a strong and positive impact on their client’s business results. Individuals in staff positions such as human resources, training, organizational development, information systems, finance, safety, purchasing, and engineering have all benefited from Flawless Consulting over the years.

Recently, I was delivering a workshop to one such group: Human Resources. Near the end of the second day and after much exploration of the Flawless Consulting process and skills, a participant asked, “I love all this content for myself as a consultant. It would be great if my client could hear it as well. Do you have a class for them . . . on how to be a flawless client?”

After some laughter and agreement in the room, we talked about this idea of the flawless client. Who are they? What do they do or not do that makes them flawless? How can we as consultants help?

In his book Flawless Consulting, Block asserts that a consultant is a person in a position to have some influence over an individual, group, or organization, but with no power to make changes or implement programs. Most people in staff or support roles are really consultants, even if they don’t call themselves one. And if we take that thinking further, many of our clients may find themselves in the consultant role, too.

Most professionals are working in cross-functional, cross-business groups and other work models that do not maintain strict vertical business units grouped by function and geography. So, a client today may be a consultant tomorrow.

 

If we agree that any client may also be a consultant, the answer to how we help them becomes a whole lot simpler. Here are some ideas.

  • While we don’t have a workshop called Flawless Clients, we do have Flawless Consulting. Anyone inside your organization who is in a position to influence without the power to make the changes would be an excellent candidate. Invite them to attend—and if they do, get together to talk about what they learned and how it can help your own relationship moving forward. Many leaders/clients have attended the workshop and found great value in the experience.

  • Remember, we learn from each other—directly or indirectly. By being a Flawless Consultant, you are inviting your clients to learn from you through what you say and what you do. Have a discussion about the consulting process—specifically, as part of your conversations to lay the groundwork for how you will work together, not just what work you will do. Encourage questions and be intentional in sharing what you are doing and why. Throughout the process, ask the question, “What did we learn from that?” Push the pause button to reflect before moving on to the next task or step.

  • In any consulting agreement, maximum client involvement will occur to the extent that you involve them. Our goal as Flawless Consultants is to be collaborative, where the engagement is a 50/50 partnership with our client to solve a given problem. When collaborative, the client must be actively involved in data gathering and analysis, setting goals and developing action plans, and finally, sharing responsibility for success or failure. When we are collaborative, problem-solving becomes a joint undertaking: the better the odds for success after the consultant has left and the more that is learned.

When we are being authentic with our clients and completing the business of consulting in each phase, we are being Flawless. Even so, it won’t always mean our clients become flawless too. According to Block, “Your job, as a consultant, is to present information as simply, directly, and assertively as possible, and to complete the tasks of each phase of the consultation. That’s all there is to do, and it’s within each of us to do that perfectly.” Do that perfectly, and perhaps your clients will follow.

Beverly Crowell is an experienced facilitator, speaker, thought leader, and author specializing in the areas of business operations, organization, employee and human resources development.

A “Flawless” Conversation with your Boss

Posted on by Maya Mehta

This is the most important ongoing conversation that you have in your organization. It sets the guidelines for how you and your boss will work together. It is the beginning of a partnership with your boss and a step toward empowerment for you.

Most of us believe that we are already having such conversations. I know I did. Yet when I dig deeper with people, I find that most conversations were as a benevolent parent (boss) to a compliant child (employee), not as partners.

First step: you will have to initiate this meeting. Do not wait for your boss. He or she has a lot going on so such a conversation isn’t on their radar. Prepare for the conversation by getting clear about the situation you are facing and what you want from your boss.

The contracting meeting from Flawless Consulting offers an excellent format with a couple of variations. Here are the key elements of the conversation.

Describe the situation. This is an opportunity to take ownership of your work, projects, etc., and describe how you want to complete the work. It is being proactive. Consider statements like:

  • Here’s what I see happening…

  • This is what I am working on…

  • Here’s what I’m planning to do…

  • These are the boundaries and constraints as I see them…

  • This is the priority I see for this work/project…

  • What information do you have that might change any of this?

Share your wants/offers. “The support, resources, understanding I want from you is… (be specific)”

Ask the boss for his/her wants/offers. “What do you want from me?”

Ask for concerns. “What concerns do you have about how I plan to proceed? What’s at risk for you, Boss?”

Summarize your conversation and offer to send an email outlining what you discussed.

I remember my first conversation like this with my boss. I was a nervous wreck anticipating all kinds of terrible endings, Once we got started, it became surprisingly pleasant… two adults talking as colleagues. Over the next few years, our relationship changed more to a partnership, then to a trusted advisor.

I learned to initiate these conversations in situations, like whenever I…

  • Had a new assignment

  • Planned something new

  • Attended training or development workshops

  • Learned about something that should be brought to the boss’ attention

  • Changed job assignments

In the Flawless Consulting Skills workshops, I began to ask participants to schedule a conversation with their bosses to discuss the workshop content and what they wanted to continue their learning.

So, here’s my encouragement to you. Schedule a conversation with your boss over the next five business days about something you’re working on, and go have a talk using the format above. It will take courage and it will change your relationship. Give it a try.

I’d love to hear your stories. Drop me a note. Let me know how it’s going.

Charles L Fields was a highly acclaimed Senior Consultant at Designed Learning and a lover of life. He traveled the world by car, rail, plane, and ship, watched the sunrise on Croagh Patrick, and set on Victoria Peak, weathered a perfect storm in the Pacific, bartered for a darbuka in the Grand Bazaar, prayed at Lord Nelson’s Sarcophagus, ate lunch in the oldest restaurant in the world. His prolific and thought-provoking writing contributed to the design and re-design of many DL products, including Flawless Consulting, Empowerment, and Stewardship. Charlie shared his passion for this body of work in over 25 countries. His impact is a blessing.

Collaborative Consulting: Three Degrees of Difficulty

Posted on by Maya Mehta

Consulting—especially collaborative consulting—requires artful presence and, consequently, is inherently difficult. It requires us to manage at three levels simultaneously: the consulting process, our relationship with the client, and ourselves.

In my view, Peter Block’s description of a practitioner-based process represents one of the great contributions of Flawless Consulting. Collaborative consulting requires paying attention to the process while simultaneously being willing to improvise within it. This represents the first degree of difficulty.

W. Edwards Deming, in his quality control work (and I think he is not fully appreciated as an OD practitioner), discusses “natural” vs “special” variation. Collaborative consulting has a lot of natural variation resulting from organizational complexity and the uncertainty of human behavior. The problem with behavioral “science” is that the standard deviations are significant. Little we do is 100% predictable, yet there is an underlying process we as consultants are responsible for knowing and following.

Can I use the contracting conversation to open the doors to discovery and the meeting for decision? Can I renegotiate my wants when the scope and scale of the work changes? Can I confront the client with how his behavior affects the situation we are discussing? Can I identify the real client?

Each client is unique. Do I have the interpersonal flexibility to adapt to and connect with my clients? Can I interact with compassion and authenticity? So, managing the client relationship in a way that engenders trust and openness represents the second degree of difficulty.

Personally, I apply Carl Jung’s principles (and teach them) as part of my consulting and coaching practice. My personal favorite is Insights Discovery—but the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, DiSC, and others all rest on the same foundation. What clues to the client rest in the physical appearance of her/his office? Is it neatly arranged and orderly with a lot of manuals? I’m probably going to need to be precise and detail oriented in my approach. Is it more casual with toys and a playful feel? I probably need to dial up my extroverted-feeling energy. In adapting, I have to remind myself that introversion/extroversion, thinking/feeling, sensing/intuition are preferences I’ve developed and not hard-wired characteristics.

 If I want to connect (and we teach the principle of connection before content in our work), I will be more successful if I can move closer to the client’s preferences.

Managing myself in the face of client behavior, emotional resistance, lack of responsiveness, indecisiveness, and intellectual challenges represents the third degree of difficulty. For me personally, attitude toward authority is something I must continually monitor. There is a part of me that wants to find those who have power wrong simply because they have power. There is a part of me that wants to be viewed as capable. There is a part of me that wants to be seen as helpful. When I indulge any of these wants uncritically and without awareness, I can get in trouble as a consultant. If I am sitting in judgment, true connection will be unlikely. If I want to be seen as knowledgeable, I can get into expert mode. If I am intimidated by the client’s power, I might withhold valuable feedback or lapse into a pair of hands work because it feels safer.

How we handle these personal issues materially affects how we do our work. Let me conclude with a reference to Shakespeare. There are clients who want to seduce us into offering “expert” advice that supports their view of the world. This is captured in Julius Caesar in Act 2, Scene 1, when Metellus says:

“Oh, let us have him, for his silver hairs
Will purchase us a good opinion,
And buy men’s voices to commend our deeds
It shall be said his judgement ruled our hands.
Our youths and wildness shall no whit appear,
But all be buried in his gravity.”

My translation: the change agents (Metellus, Brutus, and their confederates) recruit an “expert consultant” (gray-haired Cicero) to cover for their insecurity and sell their change strategy (assassinate Caesar).

Jeff has been affiliated with Designed Learning for more than 20 years.

Having held leadership positions in marketing, sales, organizational development, and HR, Jeff brings years of large-system experience in internal consulting to his work with Designed Learning. Jeff believes that when the human spirit thrives, organizations thrive as well.

Empowered?

Posted on by Maya Mehta

Empowerment is a confusing word. It’s also known as being authentic, taking ownership, choosing accountability, partnership, or being collaborative. It is the source of many questions like: “What is it all about? How do I become empowered? How do I empower my employees? How do I hold them accountable?”

Empowerment is about a mindset, an approach to how we work with and relate to others. It is a mindset that I choose—a mindset that believes, “I am the result of choices I make and I am accountable for the outcomes.”

(An example) During a Flawless Consulting Skills workshop, I met Kelly, who was unhappy in her job. When I asked her why she stayed, she said, “I have to stay, I don’t have a choice.” Curious, I asked why and she told me that members of her family had health issues that were covered by the organization’s insurance. If she left, she’d lose that.

What I heard was that the consequences of a choice to leave were unbearable. Yet she still had a choice. The choice was how to show up at work every day—thankful for a job that helped her family, or blaming others and the organization for a miserable life.

She was not empowered! Her mindset had been to blame her circumstance on others and take no accountability for her choice to stay. I saw Kelly again a few weeks later and noticed a significant change. She had chosen to be grateful and told me it had changed her life.

So, the first step towards empowerment is to change your mindset to move toward choice and ownership.

(Another example) Terry, a manager, wanted to empower her employees. Her mindset was that, as the boss, she had to control the work by setting the directions, laying out the plan, monitoring work, and holding the employee accountable for the results.

When Terry assigned a project to Bill, her conversations went: “Here’s what I want you to do and this is how you should do it. You will be accountable for the results. Any questions?” Of course, Bill’s response was, “No questions.” He kept quiet and complied with Terry’s plans, because it felt too risky to speak out.

In this conversation, Terry owned the project, not Bill. Bill was not empowered! Bill had limited ownership in the project. Such conversations keep the status quo and do not help create a culture of empowerment. So, moving towards empowerment means changing your conversations.

Here’s a reality… either Terry or Bill can change the conversation. For Terry, it means being less directive and asking more questions. By asking Bill how he wants to handle the project, Terry offers him more choice and ownership.

For Bill, it means having the courage to express, with compassion, how he wants to handle the project and what he wants from Terry to be successful. When he chooses to express his wants, he becomes accountable for the project and moves toward being empowered.

Flawless Consulting Skills workshops help participants see the choices they make about how they approach consulting and the impact of those choices. Peter Block calls this “confronting them with their choices.” This helps them realize what their mindset is and consider changing it.

Flawless Consulting Skills workshops also provide time and coaching for participants to practice new conversations that encourage expressing wants and dealing with resistance. Practice is the key! Practice in a friendly environment builds courage to use the skills in real life.

An empowerment mindset can be a life/career changer. I’d love to hear your thoughts and questions. Drop me a note. Let me know what you think.

Charles L Fields was a highly acclaimed Senior Consultant at Designed Learning and a lover of life. He traveled the world by car, rail, plane, and ship, watched the sunrise on Croagh Patrick, and set on Victoria Peak, weathered a perfect storm in the Pacific, bartered for a darbuka in the Grand Bazaar, prayed at Lord Nelson’s Sarcophagus, ate lunch in the oldest restaurant in the world. His prolific and thought-provoking writing contributed to the design and re-design of many DL products, including Flawless Consulting, Empowerment, and Stewardship. Charlie shared his passion for this body of work in over 25 countries. His impact is a blessing.

Influencing Without Direct Control (I Want Power. I Choose Influence.)

Posted on by Maya Mehta

How powerful am I?  What is power? Are you empowered?  Power over? Power by? Power with? If only I had more power!  Do I really want more power, or do I want more influence? Is there a difference?

As I think about all of the relationships of my life, power seems to have a major role.  As a child, my parents had power over me. As a student, teachers and administrators had power over me.  As a new employee, I gave my boss and my senior colleagues power over me. As a poor citizen in my city, I gave power to the government and institutions.  We have learned that the world works on a class system that relies on the belief that we must have people who have power and people who are subservient to power.  In the subservient role, I seek safety and control, yet I give up freedom and choice.

Is having more power the answer?  Why do I want more power? What will I do if I get more power?  I believe our search for power is the wrong search. What I want is to influence others so that I am heard and my ideas are utilized.

I want to influence in all aspects of my life.  My family, my friends, my colleagues, my boss, and my fellow citizens in my community.

 When I seek to influence, I claim my own power. Not power over others, but power with others and power to contribute.  I can co-create shared endeavors with others by valuing their expertise and laying claim to my own expertise.

As a citizen in a community or an employee in an organization, I can claim my power by not giving it to someone else or attempting to take it from someone.  There will always be someone with more money, more status, and more experience than me. I, however, have expertise and other contributions to offer every relationship.  I am unique, and I claim this uniqueness while honoring your expertise and uniqueness. The brand-new employee, the person living on the fringe of society, both have unique expertise, perspectives, and gifts to offer.

I have come to realize that I give power away and deny my own power too often.  I regularly give power to others, especially if I perceive they have power over me, and sometimes I use it as an excuse not to own my own power.  Influencing without direct control—that is my everyday challenge and goal. I want to influence because I have expertise and other capacities to offer the world.  It’s not only technical expertise, it is relational expertise. Influencing without direct control is the premise behind Peter Block’s groundbreaking work, “Flawless Consulting: Getting your expertise used.”

Register today to learn how to:

  • Accelerate building trust by clearly understanding what people want.
  • Articulating what you want.
  • Deal with challenging partners.
  • Solidify agreements to achieve sustainable results that are good for individuals, teams, organizations, and the community.
  • Learn how to assertively claim your own power by influencing others and seeking to be influenced by others.This will build relationships and will ultimately result in successful, sustainable communities and organizations. I look forward to seeing you there, or on some other workshop in the not too distant future. In the meantime, I wish you well as you grow your capacity to influence without direct control.

Another Look at Resistance

Posted on by Maya Mehta

In any conversation with clients, there are concerns that are rarely discussed. These doubts vary in intensity with their perceived risk and loss of control; they are personal to the individual and the situation—they are not the same for everyone.

Doubts and concerns get expressed through different behaviors. You see them as:

  • direct statements;

  • indirect expressions;

  • wrong questions; or

  • wanting proof, a promise, or power before committing to a course of action.

At the heart of these expressions are emotional harsh realities—the real doubts, concerns, or fears that the client has about the project or whatever you are discussing. These are expressions of refusal without actually saying “No.”

They are nature’s way of telling you something important is going on! They are signs of change and learning. They are not to be overcome, but to be understood and expressed. Don’t take them personally. That will only get in the way of your dealing with them effectively.

These doubts and concerns are not legitimate objections. Objections are generally logical.

The general techniques for addressing objections—making the business case; giving more proof; bartering; talking about features, benefits, and advantages—will not address the concerns . . . they usually make it worse! In these conversations, we are faced with two internal struggles: the client’s and ours.

The Client’s Internal Struggle:

  •  “Often when we’re talking, I will have concerns about what we’re discussing.

  • For me to tell you my doubts, I need to know that it’s safe for me to talk.

  • Deep inside, I worry that if I tell you my doubts, you’ll judge me, condemn me, expose me—and this puts me at risk. 

  • When I am at risk, I feel vulnerable and can get hurt.

  • If I think I’ll get hurt, I‘ll act to protect myself.

  • I protect myself by trying to control the conversation and limiting your choices and actions.”

The Client’s Hope: to keep the conversation comfortable by not talking about my concerns.

The Consultant’s Internal Struggle:

  • “Often when we’re talking, your behaviors suggest that you may have concerns about what we’re discussing.

  • For me to let you talk about your doubts, I need to know that it’s safe for me to ask.

  • Deep inside, I worry that if I confront your doubts, you’ll become angry with me, yell at me, threaten me—and this puts me at risk. 

  • When I am at risk, I feel vulnerable and can get hurt.

  • If I think I’ll get hurt, I‘ll act to protect myself.

  • I protect myself by offering a more compelling business case, bartering, going along, or withdrawing.”

The Consultant’s Hope: to keep the conversation comfortable by not confronting your behaviors.

This struggle is self-defeating. To break the cycle, the consultant needs to choose to confront what’s going on and create a safe space for the client to talk. To do this, we can:

1. Take the client’s side by listening, being patient, and seeking understanding.

2. Recognize the behaviors and not taking them personally.

3. Suspend our judgment by not interpreting the behaviors.

4. Choose to change the conversation that follows.

5. Ask questions of curiosity about their concerns instead of giving advice.

6. Act with courage.

I’d love to hear about your Resistance stories. Drop me a note. Let me know how it’s going.

Charles L Fields was a highly acclaimed Senior Consultant at Designed Learning and a lover of life. He traveled the world by car, rail, plane, and ship, watched the sunrise on Croagh Patrick, and set on Victoria Peak, weathered a perfect storm in the Pacific, bartered for a darbuka in the Grand Bazaar, prayed at Lord Nelson’s Sarcophagus, ate lunch in the oldest restaurant in the world. His prolific and thought-provoking writing contributed to the design and re-design of many DL products, including Flawless Consulting, Empowerment, and Stewardship. Charlie shared his passion for this body of work in over 25 countries. His impact is a blessing.

Tips And Traps For Internal Consultants

Posted on by Maya Mehta

Are you in a position to influence others, but have no authority to make changes or implement programs? If so, then you meet the definition of a “consultant” as found in Peter Block’s book, Flawless Consulting.

As internal consultants, we want to help solve our clients’ problems. We work to have our expertise used and our recommendations implemented. We strive to build and maintain partnerships with our clients.

Too many times, the results we get fall short of what we want. Too often, we end up with no-win consulting situations. Flawless Consulting outlines the five phases of consulting—Contracting, Diagnosis, Feedback, Implementation, and Evaluation—and offers a process that will minimize those no-win/no-fun situations.

Contracting, Diagnosis, and Feedback are considered the preliminary events. Consulting project failure can usually be traced to failure in one of these phases. What follows is a brief description of the purpose of each phase, with some tips and traps to help you be more successful.

CONTRACTING

The purpose of the Contracting phase is to negotiate roles and responsibilities, and to reach an agreement on how to proceed with the project.

TIP: State YOUR wants for the project. Clients usually spell out what THEY want from a project, but as consultants, we frequently don’t! Answer this question before your next contracting meeting—”What do I want front the client to make this a successful project?” We usually don’t get what we want because we don’t ask!

TRAP: Solving the client’s problem during the contracting meeting! Our tendency is to listen and prescribe immediately. We often think that this is what the client wants—immediate solutions. But a rush to solution trivializes the client’s situation. We need good active listening skills here, not quick solutions.

DIAGNOSIS

During the Diagnosis phase, we attempt to draw our own clear, independent picture of “what’s happening” and identify how the client is contributing to the situation.

TIP: Focus on things that the client CAN control. This helps build commitment. Too often, clients claim helplessness because we identify things that need to be fixed but are beyond the client’s control.

TRAP: Working on the technical side of the problem only! There are two sides to every problem—the technical side and the “how is it being managed?” side. Here’s an example…

Technical: The organization wants to implement a new strategic planning process.

How it is managed: The people involved in planning feel that this is another “flavor of the month”… here we go again… another change to the process.

You can go through the motions of teaching them how to use the new process, but unless you get to the level of dealing with their commitment, nothing will actually change.

FEEDBACK

The Feedback phase usually causes the most anxiety, but it is where we earn our money! In many instances, the client’s perception of the problem is different from the REAL problem. So, we have to tell the client what we’ve learned, deal with their reserva­tions, AND get a decision to act.

TIP: Use language that clearly and simply describes the situation, identifies the client’s contribution, and includes the impact on business. Such language will help focus on the real issues and prevent drifting into non-productive discussions.

TRAP: “Dumping all your data” and expecting the client to sift through it for the relevant elements. We tend to love what we’ve learned and present ALL of it to the client. We also tend to lace it with the jargon of the day. Remember, our task is to present a clear, simple picture.

A final thought…

In Flawless Consulting, Block likens our role as consultants to that of a courtroom. We could act as the judge, jury, defendant, prosecutor, etc. So, a final TIP: Act as a Witness to the situation, reflecting only what you see going on. TRAP: Acting as Judge and Jury (and sometimes executioner!) destroys trust and credibility.

Think about it… read the book… practice consulting “flawlessly”!