Welcome 
In this time of distributed work, emptying offices, virtual everything, and permanent uncertainty, living with little direct control is all of our condition.
In this sense, consulting describes everyone’s job.
A FRIEND INDEED
This fieldbook is meant as a companion to people who are doing consulting—that is, anyone attempting to help others effect a change in their lives or work. It is also meant for those who use consultants, for the more we know about the theory and practice of consulting, the better the chance we will get what we bargained for. A consultant can be a partner on a project or someone employed to be of service. The best ones are friends, too.
A consultant or companion can do at least two things for us. First, they affirm the integrity of our experience. When life is difficult, they remind us that it is life that is difficult; it is not that we are particularly wrong, unskilled, or incapable. They tell us the truth about ourselves that we can get no other way, and underneath their feedback lies an affection that heals more than any advice or suggestion they might offer.
Second, companions can help us change our minds. They give us a deeper way of thinking about our experience. Artists, visual and literary, give us a different perspective, for they see aspects of the world that we are blind to. They interpret elements of the culture that we swim in, elements ...
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