Flawless Consulting

PRAISE FOR flawless consulting, fourth edition “In this new edition, Peter Block further refines his unique offering of frameworks and practical guidance for facilitating transformation (and creating health) in human systems. Peter is a sage advisor, artfully demonstrating how to cultivate change based on invitations, authenticity, engagement, and respect. What is notable is continued movement beyond diagnosis and intervention, toward an intentionally generative approach in which the new emerges through collaborative co-creation—the same remarkable shift that my colleagues and I are striving to advance and understand in healthcare.” —PAUL N. UHLIG, MD, MPA, FACS, Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Kansas Medical Center, Andover, Kansas “Peter Block’s Fourth Edition of Flawless Consulting is the same invaluable treasure-trove of consulting insights, values, steps, checklists, and thoughtful questions that were in earlier versions. But the latest edition has incorporated the new realities of working virtually, conducting key steps with clients online, and updated thoughts on the power of strength-based approaches to addressing deep problems. This revised classic continues to be a ‘must-read’ for those new to consulting, and a ‘must-reread’ for those of us who thought we were doing well, but now realize there are numerous ways to improve. If you are a consultant of any type, at any level of experience, you will find old and new wisdom here to lift up your practice, engage effectively, and serve clients with more impact.” —SETH R. SILVER, Ed.D., President, Silver Consulting, Inc; Co-author of Meaningful Partnership at Work “I first encountered Flawless Consulting years ago as a mid-level HR generalist. The HR function at my employer was struggling with partnering and execution challenges across departments. Flawless Consulting introduced terminology and tools to navigate misaligned HR service delivery expectations and strained relationships. Fast forward to the digital age and this program is as relevant as ever. Bots and data analytics aren’t solving human interface opportunities—Flawless Consulting does.” —WALLY KUHNS, President, WK Leader Solutions, Encinitas, CA

Don't venture into the consulting field without this essential Fieldbook & Companion! Following on the heels of the best-selling Flawless Consulting, Second Edition comes The Flawless Consulting Fieldbook and Companion. Whether you work as a consultant or you work with consultants, this relentlessly practical guide will be your best friend as you discover how consulting influences your business- and real life-decisions and those of others. The Flawless Consulting Fieldbook and Companion is packed with: Sample scenarios Case studies Client-consultant dialogues Hands-on tools Action plans Implementation checklists "Wow! A companion a business owner can't be without! The insights of 30 consultants the caliber of Peter Block is priceless." --Sue Mosby, principal, CDFM2 Architecture Inc. "This book is a companion piece for both the desktop and bedside of those who do consulting full time or in their role as leader. I plan to keep this book close to me to both guide and inspire my work." --Phil Harkins, president, Linkage, Inc.

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.

Block presents models of stewardship, both for entire companies and for individuals, to produce reforms in such areas as human resource practices, performance appraisal, and the role of staff groups.

Consulting in Complex and Changing Times Organizations face challenges today that are too messy and complicated for consultants to simply play doctor: run a few tests, offer a neat diagnosis of the “problem,” and recommend a solution. Edgar Schein argues that consultants have to jettison the old idea of professional distance and work with their clients in a more personal way, emphasizing authentic openness, curiosity, and humility. Schein draws deeply on his own decades of experience, offering over two dozen case studies that illuminate each stage of this humble consulting process. Just as he did with Process Consultation nearly fifty years ago, Schein has once again revolutionized the field, enabling consultants to be more genuinely helpful and vastly more effective.

Visualization—in your own imagination, on the wall, and with media—supports any consultant who is learning to design and facilitate transformational change, leadership development, stakeholder involvement processes, and making sense of complex challenges. This book, from leaders in the field, shows you how. Building on Peter Block’s Flawless Consulting, it explains how to visually contract and scope work, gather data, provide feedback, plan interventions, implement, and support on-going sustainability in organizational and community settings. Unlike Block’s work, Visual Consulting addresses the challenging problems of guiding organizational and social change processes that involve multiple levels and types of stakeholders, with interests in both local and global environments. It demonstrates how visualization and design thinking can be used to get more creative and productive results that are “owned” by everyone. The practices described apply to organizational as well as diverse, cross-boundary consulting projects. In this book, you will. . . Learn powerful visual tools for all key stages of the consulting process, including marketing your services Understand the predictable challenges of change and how to successfully guide organizations and communities through them Learn how to collaborate with clients to get sustainable results Find tools for using visualization comprehensively, for both inner and outer work Successfully guide change in both organizations and communities The fourth installment in the Visual Facilitation series, this book teaches you how to activate the full range of visual tools, methods, and models to support stepping into successful, contemporary consulting relationships.

" We need our neighbors and community to stay healthy, produce jobs, raise our children, and care for those on the margin. Institutions and professional services have reached their limit of their ability to help us. The consumer society tells us that we are insufficient and that we must purchase what we need from specialists and systems outside the community. We have become consumers and clients, not citizens and neighbors. John McKnight and Peter Block show that we have the capacity to find real and sustainable satisfaction right in our neighborhood and community. This book reports on voluntary, self-organizing structures that focus on gifts and value hospitality, the welcoming of strangers. It shows how to reweave our social fabric, especially in our neighborhoods. In this way we collectively have enough to create a future that works for all. "

Delivers the essential practical skills needed to consult and make sharp, well prepared interactions in a wide range of business situations This comprehensive handbook covers the fundamental skills and attitudes required by successful consultants from novice to practitioner level, irrespective of their specialist area. It untangles the key variables present in any consulting service and introduces practical ways to improve their effectiveness based upon the author's experience of helping consulting organisations to develop and excel in the marketplace. The book explores consulting ‘from the ground up' steering away from theory and focusing instead on practical application, providing a solid platform upon which to build further domain-specific competence. The Consultant's Handbook provides: An understanding of the key variables that can be addressed in order to improve one's own consulting performance A set of simple practices that can be implemented with immediate benefit to the reader Practical insight into day-to-day real life consulting interactions Confidence to implement the new ideas and approaches