Skip to Main Content
The Flawless Consulting Fieldbook & Companion, 2nd Edition
book

The Flawless Consulting Fieldbook & Companion, 2nd Edition

by Peter Block
February 2024
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
352 pages
6h 54m
English
Wiley
Audiobook available
Content preview from The Flawless Consulting Fieldbook & Companion, 2nd Edition

Chapter 13So, What’s Working Here?

Elizabeth McGrath

These observations from an interview with Elizabeth McGrath could also have been entitled “Everything Counts.” Elizabeth brings precision and order to her work. She is attentive to the detail of the moment and underlines the idea that the world is contained in the room you are in at the moment and that you, the consultant, are always part of the action, even if you may be participating in the illusion that you are an outsider. There are no outsiders in her view; everyone is a player. And Elizabeth gives you a sense of how she plays.

The two things that fascinate me most as a consultant are the strengths and value of “partnership,” which I would contrast with the promise of “teamwork,” and how powerful people become when they feel understood. I specialize in large-systems change and a lot of the work I do is with labor and management change partnerships. Whether or not they care for each other, both realize that they cannot make significant progress unless they work together. I think of partnership as a steppingstone to true teamwork. It takes a long time to become a team, and organizations tend to assume people can work as a team before they’re really ready. I’ve found that a good way to learn and practice how to be a team member is to first be a good partner.

I define partnership as two individuals who are involved in something in which each of us has a stake. We can either contribute to one another’s success or either one ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Start your free trial

You might also like

Communicate with Teams More Effectively

Communicate with Teams More Effectively

Charles Humble
Strategy in the Age of Disruption

Strategy in the Age of Disruption

Henrik Von Scheel, Ciprian Popa, Joshua Von Scheel

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781394205721Purchase Link