Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used

The book is nicely balanced between the needs of those who supply internal consulting (whether formally, or as staff resources) and external consultants and experts. I have played both roles, and each one teaches you something you need to know in order to be a better consultant. This is the only book on consulting that I have read that captures both perspectives and roles well.

A great strength of the book is that there are extensive examples of the same issue so that you can get a good perspective, even if you don't yet have much experience as a consultant. So it is a terrific book for those who are new to consulting.

For those of us who have a few decades of consulting experience, there is still a lot to learn. I was especially helped by the extensive list of ways to diagnose what may be going wrong when the client asks questions or is inactive. I was helped even more by many ingenious responses to those situations that had never occurred to me.

This is a principled book, one that considers the needs of the client and the consultant in a fair and even-handed way. It also gives you the perspective you need to apply those principles.

I heartily agree with the emphasis on getting as much relevant client involvement as possible, to improve commitment, understanding, relationships, and the ability to implement later on.

The next time I run into a potential snag in a consulting relationship, I intend to check my thinking with this wonderful guide. I suggest you do the same. You'll need to have a copy around, so plan to buy one on Amazon.com.

For those fans of The McKinsey Way, you should read this book, too. It will facilitate your career in much more valuable and signficant ways.


Reassuring AND challenging   December 2, 2003
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

The best guide to consulting I have read. Peter Block writes in plain English; the layout is uncluttered and easy to navigate. But perhaps the most powerful quality is his openness in sharing tales of projects that didn't go smoothly. It's reassuring when he describes good approaches and you realise you are doing those right; it's challenging when he describes less successful behaviour and you recognise some of those too!


Hands down the best book on consulting I ever bought!!!   August 20, 1999
16 out of 16 found this review helpful

Peter Block covers the intangibles of consulting: the politics, communications and the obstacles that derail the consultant/client relationship. This book is a MUST read, not only for consultants, but for anyone that works in or around companies that have politics, or bureaucracy, or people. That should cover just about all of us. This book helped me because it covered so much more then the business techniques of consulting, hey I'm a business consultant after all. Flawless Consulting helps you master communication and contracting gaffs, to understand why after much good advice the customer still does the wrong thing, and most importantly how your success can be assured despite those kind of issues.


Fantastic help for anyone who provides expertise or advice   October 29, 1998
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

I think everyone should read this book. Even if you don't think you're a consultant - you are one. You probably try to get your services used inside a company.

Block has a real insight into how the dynamics of consultancy work. I read it before I dealt with my first external client and it saved me from what would have otherwise been less than flawless consulting! As it was, it turned into a great success.

I'll be rereading it regularly.