Blog - Designed Learning

Being Present is Everything I was very fortunate to witness the solar eclipse in totality this week. Before this amazing celestial event, I read extensively about what would happen. I listened to presentations from scientists, naturalists, and other eclipse aficionados. I felt as if I was prepared and understood what would happen. I looked… Read Post

Flawless Consulting and Saying No by Beverly Crowell What do we say about saying no in Flawless Consulting? In a recent conversation, a client said, “My company values relationships. I worry saying no might hurt the relationships I am trying to build.” Hearing that, I asked, “So, what kind of relationships does your company… Read Post

Leader As Convener by Peter Block This article, Leader as Convener by Peter Block, is part of our Witness the Common Good series. We know that leadership matters. Traditionally, we have defined the function as visionary, role model, designer, inspiration, and voice of where we are headed. We ask our leaders to be coach,… Read Post

Possibilities from Designed Learning (Feb 2024) WHAT’S NEW The Flawless Consulting: Fieldbook & Companion, 2nd Edition coming Feb 28 In this update to the original book, published more than 20 years ago, there is 40% new content and chapter updates by the initial contributor. A must-have collection of resources for consultants everywhere, it will quickly become your… Read Post

Are You Consulting Without a Safety Net? What if we worked with clients in ways that could better leverage our expertise, foster trust sooner, galvanize stronger commitment, and make consulting more rewarding? I find these outcomes more likely occur when I weave a safety net in asking clients for what I want and voice them during contracting… Read Post

5 Reasons Why Consulting Is Always a Choice “What if someone finds out I’m not supposed to be here?!” my inner voice whispered during my first Flawless Consulting workshop. Even my job title as a consultant couldn’t convince me I belonged. The problem was that I judged my value based on others’ perceptions rather than my own. Read Post

What are you agreeing to? What are you agreeing to? As an internal consultant, I often hear messages embedded within the culture and hierarchy of the organization about how my work should be conducted. Pressure to be strategic in relationships, speak in an indirect way, and ignore what I’m experiencing at the moment. Those… Read Post

Is Your Consulting Flawless? As consulting professionals, each interaction with a client offers an opportunity to allow the flawless consultant within us to emerge. So is your consulting flawless? The preliminary events of consulting are where we have the most leverage to create successful outcomes during implementation. Furthermore, our reactions to a client,… Read Post

3 Reasons Why Reading Flawless Consulting Is Not Enough Yes, reading is fundamental. And as a valuable and essential method of learning, it does have its limitations, particularly when it comes to acquiring practical skills. Solely relying on reading to learn a skill can be as limiting as learning how to ride a bike by only reading an instruction… Read Post

Change the Conversation – Change the Culture By Jeff Evans “How do we change the culture?” It is a question I have been asked many times while facilitating Flawless Consulting® workshops. The answer? “One conversation at a time.” Participants of Flawless find a lot of value in the tools and concepts we cover to… Read Post