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Biz Books
Sunday September 4, 2005
Consulting Mastery How the Best Make the Biggest Difference by Keith Merron, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, $34.95. Most consultants deal with the problem at hand. The best look deeper into the organization. They try to identify operational patterns that cause the problems and prevent the firm from helping itself. What works for the best consultants should work for anyone managing a team or a project. To make it work, a manager must shift mental focus the firm is not just the employer; the firm is also a client. This focus opens the door to not only doing ones job, but also offering advice on what jobs need to be done.
See the organization as a system. The system components include, but are not limited to: culture, leadership, vision, compensation, strategy, skills of staff, management style and financial constraints. Unless you know how the components interact (i.e. ordered chaos), changing one component may not have the desired effect, and may have an undesirable effect on others.
Share ownership of the process. An outside consultant shares ownership with internal collaborators. So does the inside manager/consultant. Allies are essential; you wont find them in silos. Silo-dwellers dont think of the organization first its all about life in their silo first. Shared proposals build relationships and leverage system knowledge and perspective.
Applying knowledge. The consulting process has two phases: diagnosis (30 percent) and implementation (70 percent). Diagnosis involves information gathering, analysis and planning. Implementation involves organizing the system into action. Since the internal people have to provide the information and execute the plan, who better than a manager/consultant to orchestrate?
The bottom line on applying knowledge is that success or failure is not a conceptual problem. It is a human problem.
Deep learning. The best consultants admit they dont know everything. Merron writes: They are committed not to the process of knowing but to the process of inquiry. And they are committed to the process of shared learning their own and their clients.
Self-confidence. The best know they can make a difference by showing others that the way to achieve is through collaboration.
Then We Set His Hair on Fire Insights and Accidents from a Hall-of-Fame Career in Advertising by Phil Dusenberry, Portfolio, $24.95. Dusenberry, former chairman of BBDO North America, tells tales of his industry that make business sense in any industry. No-accident insights:
Trust what research is trying to tell you. Dont dismiss it if it doesnt prove the point you expected. Find the value in whats there. At the same time, use it as a guide, not a god; consumers can turn on a dime.
Watch how you set your goals. When it comes to sales growth, substantial gains are seldom made in the short-term. But if you constantly move the needle in the short term, you end up with substantial, sustainable long-term growth.
The principle applies to staff, too. If you expect too much too soon, the staff feels overwhelmed; no one wants to take responsibility in such a situation because its a setup for failure. Conversely, managers can move the needle by finding positive ways to motivate staff. A highly motivated staff leverages the needle-moving process.
The insight resume. Dusenberry believes everyone is born with creative capacity, and that many forget how to tap it when moving from childhood to adulthood. His 24-question insight refresher jogs our memories. Hes clear about two things: The best insights come from those who understand the situation that doesnt mean they know the most about it. 2. Ideas that are simple and easily understood are the best ideas.
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