Million Dollar Consulting, 5th Edition

INTRODUCTION

IN 1990 I wrote a proposal for what would have been my fourth book, entitled Confessions of a Consultant. The premise was to alert corporate executives about what was going wrong unbeknownst to them, and what combination of internal and external resources was needed to become more effective. After all, I was an organization development consultant, working with Fortune 1000 firms.

That book idea was rejected by 15 publishers. Then one day my agent called on my brand-new car phone, hardwired to the dashboard, and said, “I’m at McGraw-Hill.” I was ecstatic—he was at one of the premier publishers on the planet. “They like the book idea?” I shouted.

“No, they hate it.”

“Jeff,” I said, “do you know what this call is costing me?”

“They ...