CHAPTER 1

A CONSULTANT BY ANY OTHER NAME . . .

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Any form of humor or sarcasm has some truth in it. The truth in the prevailing skepticism about consultants is that the traditional consultant has tended to act solely as an agent of management: assuming the manager’s role in either performing highly technical activities that a manager cannot do or performing distasteful and boring activities that a manager does not want to do. The most dramatic examples of consultants’ taking the place of managers is when they identify people who will be let go or functions that will be eliminated.

When you are asked directions and you tell someone to get off ...

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