Consulting Mastery

PREFACE

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WHEN I WAS A YOUNG CONSULTANT, a trusted, senior advisor of mine sometimes said to me: “Keith, that piece of work you just did was helpful, but not powerful.” I was adding value, he was telling me, but not truly making a difference. That feedback stuck in my craw, and many years later, there it remains. For me, “good enough” is never good enough.

This book aims to answer one fundamental question: How do I make a big difference as a consultant? Many consultants want to make a difference, yet few manage to be more than “helpful.” They solve problems and plug holes for the client, often unaware that the process they are engaging in does little to alter the very dynamics that created the problems in the first place. Moreover, most consultants ...