Updated Classic: Peter Block’s Flawless Consulting

In 1986, the first edition of FlawlessConsulting appeared, and it changed my view of consultingforever. Peter Block was a revolutionary 25 years ago, and in thisthird edition of his book he maintains that edge. If you are aconsultant, whether internal to an organization or external, you oweit to yourself to get familiar with Block’s ideas.

In his foreword to the new edition,Block notes how things have changed since his previous revision in1999. Twelve years ago, we expected peace and well-being to come withthe millennium, and we feared that computers were about to fail usbecause they couldn’t seem to adjust to a new century. “Well,neither really happened. Our dependency on computers and technologyhas only intensified, and a decade into the millennium, we are atwar, still addicted to fossil fuels, and concerned whether theeconomic system we have grown used to is still relevant. This meansthat living with a vulnerable present and an uncertain future isgoing to be a permanent condition. This situation bodes well for theworld of consulting.”

What is still true

The fundamental theme of FlawlessConsulting, from the beginning, has been that teams and personalrelationships are critical to technical and business success. Itdoesn’t matter how wonderful an expert you are if you can’t get yourexpertise used. The key to that dilemma is to pay attention to and tounderstand the emotional and personal dimensions of our workplaces.

“Every time you give advice tosomeone who is faced with a choice, you are consulting,” Blocksays. To succeed at this requires both technical skill andinterpersonal skill, and it also requires knowing how to have aconversation with a client.

The genius of this book

With humor and insight, Peter Blockguides the reader through the five phases of every consultingproject. He provides support in terms of methods and plenty of”how-to” advice, but he goes beyond these to address thedimensions that transcend methods. The key elements — feelings,acceptance or resistance, tension, support or confrontation —require just as much attention as the content of the discussion andproject.

By dealing first with the primary goalsof any consulting engagement (first and foremost: establishing acollaborative relationship) and with the secondary goal (developingclient commitment), Block helps readers avoid many difficult issues.

The advice is practical, and Blocksupports it with checklists, scenarios, insights, and even withsuggested expressions. Much of this content is on a Web siteassociated with the book, in order to keep the book slender. This ishelpful for consultants who travel, and keeps the support documentsin a place where the reader can always find them.

Why should you buy this book?

Flawless Consulting will helpyou increase the capacity of your clients to find and implementsolutions. This begins with establishing the relationship with theclient and defining the assignment. The content addresses contracting(and its associated agonies), understanding and dealing withresistance, getting through discovery, providing feedback andmanaging meetings for action, and implementation. Block also explainsthe important differences between internal and external consultants– something that many consulting books skip completely.

Peter Block is dedicated tofacilitating learning. In other words, his view of the world alignscompletely with the view of the readers of this article and ofmembers of The eLearning Guild. This perspective means thatyou will find Flawless Consulting fits your work perfectly. Ihave no reservations in recommending the book to you. In time, itwill become as tattered, dog-eared, highlighted, and filled withsticky notes as my old copy of the first edition.

Bibliographic information

Block, Peter. Flawless Consulting: AGuide to Getting Your Expertise Used (3rd Ed.) (2011) SanFrancisco: Jossey-Bass. 352 pages. ISBN 978-0-470-62074-8.

Print list price:$55.00

Amazon (hard cover): $38.26

Amazon (Kindle): $34.43

Wiley Audio (Abridged): $15.99

Audible (Abridged): $9.95 or 1 Credit

(This review based on the complete hardcover edition. The publisher provided a copy to the Editor for thisreview.)