The Secrets of Consulting (Recommended Reading)

A friend from church recommended this book to me. I thought, "I've been doing this for 15 years, why do I need to read someone else's impressions of what it's like to be a consultant?". But my friend is a MIT grad, and a pretty good guy, so I ordered a copy on the internet.

After just a few pages, I kind of got the feeling I was back in my childhood, sitting on the sofa next to my grandpa and he was telling me some great stories. Only thing is, I'm a grown up now, and this guy was telling me interesting, entertaining stories about how to be a better consultant. (I don't recall ever having consulting conversations with my grandfather.)

This guy has not only 'been there and done that' in the consulting world, but he has a great approach to business and his stories are easy to remember and pretty humorous. Here's just a couple of the names:

• "The Law of Raspberry Jam",
• "The Lone Ranger Fantasy",
• "The Potato Chip Principle".

They might sound silly, but they really are sound, effective consulting strategies.

Here's another example:

The First Law of Consulting: In spite of what your client may tell you, there's always a problem.

The Second Law of Consulting: No matter how it looks at first, it's always a people problem

The Third Law of Consulting: Never forget they're paying you by the hour, not by the solution.

As previously mentioned, I read A LOT of books, this one is clearly a 'must read' for anyone who's a full time consultant, part time consultant, or has been asked to give someone advice (even once) in their life from another person.

Read it for yourself, and tell me what you think...

Until next time...