Review

This book is aimed at management consultants. My key takeaway from the book is that each consulting engagement should be an act of co-creation and collaboration. The consultant should be authentic and assertive. Present a clear picture of the situation - a fresh view, not an exhaustive account of all the facts. Make recommendations.

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This book offers valuable insights from an experienced facilitator, so I'm glad I persevered through it, despite finding it burdensome to read. Facilitation is evidently more of an art than a science. It appears to be tacit knowledge, meaning that you need to practice it in order to learn it. I believe this is reflected in the author's lengthy and meandering descriptions of situations and techniques. Nevertheless, there are some excellent tips in this book, and hopefully, my summary captures most of them for you.

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Key Takeaways

The 20% that gave me 80% of the value.

Fundamentally, consulting is about influencing without direct control. Consultants help by improving processes and enabling client learning, acting as partners rather than authorities. Effective consulting requires technical expertise, strong interpersonal skills, and a clear 5-phase approach: contracting, discovery, analysis & decision to act, implementation, and closure.

Techniques alone are insufficient; consulting demands balancing content and relationship. Authentic behaviour, valid data, free choice, and internal commitment are pivotal. Consultants aim to establish collaboration, solve problems sustainably, and attend to both technical and interpersonal elements.

Contracting clarifies mutual expectations and surfaces control concerns. Skills include being genuine, negotiating wants, and ensuring all stakeholders align. Effective contracts are entered freely, balance responsibility 50/50, legitimise doubts, and have clear scope and support.

Discovery uncovers the real, often unstated problem. It requires collecting data at multiple levels, assessing culture and politics, anticipating resistance, involving clients, and distilling insights into meaningful choices. Shifting from a purely diagnostic mindset to exploring strengths and possibilities fosters deeper ownership. Techniques like appreciative inquiry and positive deviance amplify commitment.

During analysis and feedback, consultants funnel data into a succinct, everyday language picture covering both business and human factors. Presenting as a neutral witness, not a judge, preserves trust. Meetings need a tight structure balancing content and discussion time to drive clear decisions and next steps.

Implementation depends more on engagement than installation. Top-down plans underestimate the emotional and cultural aspects of change. Genuine involvement, co-design, and voluntary commitment matter more than mandates or metrics. Consultants serve best by honouring intangibles, flipping the mirror to management's role, and emphasising community over compliance.

Structures that rearrange hierarchy, encourage public doubts, and spark new conversations activate people's inherent capacity to transform systems. Even small shifts in meeting purpose and format can model the future in the present.

Ultimately, consulting is a relationship business enabled by faith that clients can solve their own challenges. By balancing authenticity and accountability, consultants help organisations evolve without rescue fantasies or blame. Each interaction becomes a chance to live into a new story chosen by the collective, not imposed by authority.

In summary, the key takeaways are:

1. Balance technical expertise with strong interpersonal skills
2. Follow a clear 5-phase approach from contracting to closure
3. Contract openly to clarify expectations and surface doubts
4. Discover the real issue at multiple levels, involving stakeholders
5. Distill data into a meaningful picture of choices, not just problems
6. Structure feedback meetings to drive clear decisions and ownership
7. Engage people authentically in implementation vs. top-down plans
8. Use participative structures to model desired changes in real-time
9. Emphasise client responsibility and capacity over blame or rescue
10. Treat each interaction as a microcosm of the future system

By embodying these principles, consultants become trusted partners able to evoke sustainable results and empower clients as co-creators of their own transformation.

Deep Summary

Longer form notes, typically condensed, reworded and de-duplicated.

Chapter 1: A Consultant by Any Other Name…

Consultants often inherit a tarnished reputation by acting as substitutes for management, either performing highly technical tasks managers can't do themselves or taking on uncomfortable duties like restructuring. Yet whenever we give advice or directions to someone who doesn't report to us, we're taking on a consulting role, regardless of our formal job title. The crucial difference between a consultant and a manager lies in authority: consultants have influence without direct control, while managers have the power to implement decisions. Consultants who step into the client's role and do the client's job become surrogate managers, creating confusion about their real contribution.

Your goal or end-product in any consulting activity is some kind of change.

Good consulting aims for change in two ways: by improving structures, policies, or procedures, and by enabling people to learn more about themselves or their organisation. Anyone in a staff or support function—HR, finance, IT, or other advisory roles—acts as a consultant to line managers, who have final responsibility for taking action. The consultant's goal is to help clients manage themselves more effectively rather than simply taking over their tasks.

Consultants need three skill sets:

• Technical expertise is the foundation: clients seek our advice because of specialised knowledge.
• Interpersonal skills such as listening, assertiveness, supportiveness, group wrangling, management style and building trust.
• Consulting skills apply a clear process to projects, typically moving through five phases:
1. Entry and contracting
2. Discovery
3. Analysis and decision to act
4. Engagement and implementation
5. Extension, recycle or Termination
• Skipping or rushing these phases often leads to frustration or incomplete solutions.

Entry and contracting define expectations and responsibilities, while discovery involves uncovering both the problem and existing strengths. During analysis, consultants sort through findings, present useful feedback, and facilitate decisions. Implementation might require the consultant's involvement in design or training, but often the line organisation must take responsibility for real change to occur. Once results are evaluated, the process may end, continue more broadly, or cycle back to a new definition of the issue.

Flawless consulting suggests an ideal: staying true to our values and beliefs while helping clients. Rather than being manipulated by organisational politics, it means being authentic, building genuine partnerships, and developing internal commitment.

Consult Flawlessly and you can expect to…

• Have your expertise better used
• Have your recommendations more frequently implemented
• Work in more of a partnership role with clients
• Avoid no-win consulting situations
• Develop internal commitment in your clients
• Receive support from your clients
• Increase the leverage you have with clients
• Establish more trusting relationships with clients and with whoever is important in your work

Part 1: Fundamentals

Chapter 2: Techniques Are Not Enough

Consultants can fill three main roles depending on the context and the preferences of both consultant and client. In the expert role, consultants are given freedom to diagnose and solve a technical problem on their own, but may struggle to secure accurate information or long-term commitment. In the pair-of-hands role, consultants carry out the client's plan with minimal input or challenge—risking a flawed diagnosis whilst also becoming the scapegoat if results disappoint. In the collaborative role, both consultant and manager share responsibility for diagnosing problems, designing solutions, and implementing changes. This last approach emphasises joint ownership and often leads to more lasting results, though it requires more time and a willingness by both parties to share control.

Three fundamental assumptions shape the approach in this book:

• Problem-solving requires valid data, which includes both objective facts and people's feelings or perceptions about what is happening.
• Effective decision-making requires free and open choice, so that people are more likely to commit to and support what they have helped decide.
• Effective implementation requires internal commitment, ensuring that people don't just comply under watchful eyes but continue to act with dedication in the long run.

Drawing on these assumptions, consultants typically aim for three goals:

• Establish a collaborative relationship, spreading responsibility for results and modelling the kind of partnership they want their client to use.
• Solve problems so they stay solved, meaning the client builds the capability to address similar issues in the future.
• Ensure attention is given to both technical/business issues and the way people interact, because improving relationships is often key to solving even the most technical challenges.

Developing client commitment is pivotal at every phase. Since consultants lack direct authority to force decisions, their influence hinges on managers' willingness to follow through. This commitment stems partly from removing doubts or fears that block action and partly from involving managers in the discovery and solution-building process. The more they co-own the plan and see its value to their own objectives, the more likely they are to implement and sustain meaningful change.

Chapter 3: Being Right — Really

Consulting takes place simultaneously on two levels: the technical or business content and the affective, interpersonal relationship. Valuing both is essential. On the relational side, four elements always matter. First is responsibility, which should ideally be shared 50/50. Second is feelings, including a consultant's own reactions as important data. Third is trust, built by openly addressing any doubts the client may have. Finally, consultants have a right to their own wants, such as support and access, which they should make explicit rather than hide.

At its core, consulting is a relationship business. Methodologies and expertise matter, but they travel through the bond consultants build with clients. This means engaging with deeper issues, including paradox and tension. The desire to move quickly into how-tos and lists can undermine the vital questions of why, what's meaningful, and where a project is headed. Sticking with these tough questions and managing the friction that arises can lead to genuine insight and commitment—especially when both consultant and client share control.

To split responsibility effectively, consultants strive for a genuine partnership rather than taking on all the work. This collaboration avoids the pitfalls of "doing it all", which might be faster but leaves the client less committed. Each consultation becomes more likely to produce lasting results if the client is fully involved in discovery, analysis, and decision-making, rather than simply receiving a ready-made solution.

Below are 12 steps for staging client involvement, each an opportunity to reinforce 50/50 responsibility:

1. Define the Initial Problem: Ask the client to state the issue, and add your own views or deeper questions.
2. Decide Whether to Proceed: Treat going forward as a joint choice, ensuring conditions exist for success.
3. Select the Dimensions to Be Studied: Combine your expertise with the client's knowledge of the organisation.
4. Decide Who Will Be Involved: Form a mixed team rather than the consultant doing it solo.
5. Select the Method: Ask for the client's input on how to collect and interpret data.
6. Do Discovery: Have the client partner in interviews, group sessions, or site visits.
7. Funnel the Data: Organise large amounts of information together, so the client sees how it was derived.
8. Make Sense of the Data: Involve the client in analysing what the findings mean.
9. Summarise the Findings: Bring everything into a concise, understandable format with the client's help.
10. Provide the Results: Have the client share in delivering key messages to the broader group.
11. Make Recommendations: Encourage the client to propose solutions first, then shape ideas together.
12. Decide on Actions: Request to be included in final decisions; it helps keep the consultant's insights in play.

When both sides shoulder equal parts of the work, trust, and ownership, the process is slower in the short run but yields stronger, longer-lasting change. By balancing attention to technical issues and personal dynamics, consultants not only solve immediate problems but also expand the client's capacity for self-management and future problem-solving.

Chapter 4: Flawless Consulting

Consulting can be kept simple by asking yourself two guiding questions whenever you're with a client: (1) Am I being authentic right now? and (2) Am I completing the business of the phase I'm in? Authenticity means stating directly what you're experiencing in the relationship—such as feelings of being rushed, excluded, or judged—and drawing attention to how that affects the work. This candour builds trust and helps equalise responsibility.

Completing the requirements of each phase means tending to specific tasks that ensure the client is truly engaged:

1. Contracting
• Negotiate wants (both yours and the client's).
• Cope with mixed motivation (clients often waver).
• Surface concerns about exposure and loss of control (often hidden behind technical questions).
• Understand triangular and rectangular contracts (clarify who's really involved: the client, their boss, your boss).
2. Discovery and Underlying Concerns
• Explore layers of enquiry (initial symptoms often hide deeper issues).
• Consider the political climate (assess how power dynamics affect the project).
• Expect resistance to sharing information (people worry about how data will be used).
• Treat interviews as joint learning events (not just fact-finding but the start of change).
3. Analysis and the Decision to Act
• Funnel the data (pick actionable findings over exhaustive detail).
• Present personal and organisational data (including how management style may affect outcomes).
• Manage the meeting for action (don't just report findings—use feedback time to decide what to do).
• Focus on the here and now (watch how the group handles your report—it reflects their broader habits).
• Don't take it personally (resistance is about the problem, not you).
4. Engagement and Implementation
• Bet on engagement over mandate (involve people for real commitment).
• Design more for participation than presentation (let people wrestle with the plan).
• Encourage difficult public exchanges (trust builds by discussing doubts early).
• Put real choice on the table (commitment grows from genuine options).
• Change the conversation to change the culture (move away from blame or quick fixes).
• Pay attention to meeting structure (space and format affect attitudes and outcomes).

Results in consulting are the client's responsibility to implement. Though you want your recommendations to be used, you lack direct control and can only strengthen the odds of follow-through by how well you engage the client. Maintaining your focus on constructive involvement and clarity in each phase increases the likelihood of positive outcomes.

Accountability in flawless consulting lies in your own conduct—did you contract well, remain authentic, and complete the tasks of each phase? You are not accountable for whether the client actually adopts your suggestions. This stance prevents you from taking over the client's responsibilities or chasing them to do something they're not ready or willing to do.

Finally, clients have the right to fail. No matter how good your advice, a manager may still decide against acting on it. Recognising this helps consultants avoid frustration and overreach. Your real influence comes from presenting information candidly, building trust, and ensuring each phase is handled thoroughly. If you meet these obligations and stay authentic, you can claim a "flawless" consultation—regardless of the final outcome.

Part 2: Entry and Contracting

Chapter 5: Contracting Overview

Contracting shapes the relationship between consultant and client by clarifying expectations, defining responsibilities, and ensuring both sides enter the work on equal footing. Contracts can be written or verbal, but they always centre on the ideas of mutual consent (no forced participation) and valid consideration (both parties must receive something of value). Contracting is the consultant's greatest chance for leverage because it sets the tone for the entire engagement.

The key skills of contracting involve being authentic, negotiating what both sides want, addressing hidden fears about exposure and control, and ensuring everyone who truly has a stake in the project is part of the agreement. Clarity is crucial: it prevents broken promises, mismatched expectations, and confusion about the scope of work. Consultants who assert their own wants—such as access, time, and collaborative involvement—are more likely to deliver lasting impact while maintaining trust.

Below are the elements of a contract that typically need clear agreement:

• Boundaries of Your Analysis (the scope or focus)
• Objectives of the Project (desired improvements or goals)
• The Kind of Information You Seek (data, interviews, client cooperation)
• Your Role in the Project (collaborative partner or expert resource)
• The Product You Will Deliver (final report, recommendations, or plan)
• Support and Involvement from the Client (time, access, communication)
• Time Schedule (start date, milestones, finish)
• Confidentiality (who sees the findings)
• Feedback to You Later (optional follow-up to assess results)

By following these guidelines—staying genuine in your communication, articulating mutual expectations, and covering all essential elements—consultants create strong agreements that boost cooperation, build trust, and set the stage for meaningful results.

Chapter 6: The Contracting Meeting

Contracting begins the moment you and a client agree to explore working together. Each early action—like who attends the meeting, how much time is allotted, or which issues come up—foretells how the entire project might unfold. A good contracting discussion clarifies what each side expects, surfaces hidden concerns about control, and builds the mutual trust you need for success. Below are eight steps to structure a contracting meeting, each with supporting detail.

1. Personal Acknowledgement

Start by recognising that inviting a consultant into an organisation takes courage. Simple, genuine comments about what brought you together—why it matters to you, or any hopes and doubts—help the client feel respected and set a collaborative tone from the outset.

2. Communicate Understanding of the Problem

The client's concerns often include a sense that their issues are unique or especially complex. Show you've heard them by restating the situation in your own words, acknowledging any special elements, and offering a sincere sense that something can be done, without rushing into solutions.

3. Client Wants and Offers

Ask directly, "What do you want from me?" Listen carefully, including any constraints like limited time, access, or budget. Understand not only the business problem but also the client's preferred way of working. This clarifies what is expected of you and whether the conditions for success are present.

4. Consultant Wants and Offers

Articulate what you need from the client: enough time, access to the right people, a budget, or leadership support. Distinguish between must-haves (essential wants) and nice-to-haves (desirable wants). Also be realistic in what you promise—often a clear diagnostic or a set of recommendations—rather than guaranteeing results that only the client can implement.

5. Reach Agreement

If both sides can align on each other's wants and constraints, confirm that agreement out loud. Summarise the arrangement so everyone leaves the meeting with the same picture of how you'll proceed.

6. Ask for Feedback on Control and Commitment

Check the client's motivation: "Are you freely choosing to do this, and are you satisfied with our plan?" Also ask if they feel in control or vulnerable. Unspoken doubts often derail projects later, so airing them now can either reinforce or adjust the agreement before real work starts.

7. Give Support

Validate the client's willingness to engage. Highlight what they've done well in the conversation—maybe clear communication or openness about risks. Genuine, specific praise shows you appreciate their effort and fosters trust.

8. Restate Actions

Close by confirming who will do what and when—such as sending memos, setting up interviews, or scheduling the next meeting. Clear next steps keep momentum and prevent confusion.

Additional Points

• Determine early who the true client is—anyone who approves actions, is impacted, or must implement recommendations.
• Pay special attention to the initial phone call or email; it reveals possible hesitations, constraints, or time pressures.
• Recognise that social contracts are fluid. Terms may need revisiting if new concerns appear, so stay open to renegotiation.

By following these eight steps, you make the contracting phase a genuine partnership rather than a one-sided arrangement. This sets the stage for a more honest, committed, and ultimately effective consulting engagement.

Chapter 7: Some Nuances of Contracting

Consultants engage with clients in three main ways: being asked in, being sent in by leadership, or taking the initiative to offer help. Regardless of how the project originates, the first task is to build a genuine relationship by acknowledging what brought you together and jointly clarifying the situation. Aim for a clear, balanced contract on what you will each do.

When you're sent in, state up front who sent you and why. Ask how the client feels about being "assigned" help. Listen for their view of the problem and whether they want to proceed. If you're the one who wants in, start by briefly sharing why you think your help might be valuable. State your wants—such as time, access, or participation—and then see what the client wants or offers in return.

Selling is mostly about identifying and removing doubts. Managers who pull back are often concerned about losing control or looking vulnerable. Let them express these concerns. Time or budget constraints are usually just coded ways of saying the client isn't committed. Rather than "overcoming objections" with more arguments, focus on encouraging open discussion of any fears.

Conclude your contracting conversation by confirming next steps, how you will both measure success, and whether the client has remaining reservations. Leave enough time at the end to uncover any last-minute tensions. Ultimately, the goal is to create trust in how you work together and ensure both sides feel free to say "yes" or "no" before proceeding.

Chapter 8: Some Agonies of Contracting

Many contracting problems arise when the consultant and client reach an impasse over how to proceed or when the client's motivation is low. Recognising you're "stuck" often comes from noticing repetitive explanations, dwindling energy, or contradictory nonverbal cues. Once you sense the meeting is going nowhere, take a break or pause mentally, and consider adjusting what you want or can offer. If that fails, shift the discussion to how the meeting is going itself—acknowledge the block directly and see if unspoken fears or doubts about losing control or looking vulnerable emerge. If repeated efforts don't help, be prepared to postpone or terminate rather than forcing a low-chance-of-success project.

Low motivation—when clients go along but clearly aren't eager—usually involves a sense of coercion. Ask if they feel pressured. If they do, encourage them to renegotiate the need for the project or scale down the scope to a smaller test effort. In general, it's better to risk losing a potential engagement than to invest in a project doomed by halfhearted commitment. Another subtle issue is the constant possibility of shifting ground rules once the project is underway. Watch for signs that your role or the client's level of cooperation is changing and bring it up promptly rather than letting the contract slide.

Before the contracting conversation, consider these questions:

• What balance of responsibility do you expect (expert vs. pair of hands)?
• What are your must-haves and like-to-haves from the client?
• What precisely are you offering (technical know-how, process facilitation, organisational improvement)?
• What might the client be looking for, both technically and personally?
• Who needs to be part of the meeting? Are the true decision-makers included?
• What resistance do you anticipate?
• Under what conditions is it best not to proceed?

After the meeting, reflect on:

• How well participation and control were shared (did you keep it near 50/50?).
• What signs of resistance or reluctance the client showed and whether you addressed them head-on.
• Which concerns you left unspoken, and which you shared openly.
• What you did to offer genuine support or acknowledgement.
• The motivation levels on both sides and any body-language contradictions.
• Steps you may have skipped or glossed over.
• What you learned about your approach, including what you did well and might repeat next time.

Chapter 9: The Internal Consultant’s Dilemma

Internal consultants can't simply walk away or find another organisation to serve; one or two failed projects can quickly undermine their reputation across the company. Their status is fixed, their boss has goals they must meet, and they often feel pressured to promote certain programmes or processes. These conditions make forming a balanced, authentic contract with a line manager more delicate and sometimes riskier than it would be for an outside consultant.

Besides the client, there may be a boss (and possibly the client's boss too) who sets objectives or priorities. All parties must align on what the consultant's role will be, how success is defined, and which changes or programmes are non-negotiable. If these higher-level demands or internal cultural pressures remain vague, the internal consultant risks pushing solutions that lack the line manager's genuine buy-in or ignoring vital directives from their own boss.

A crucial step is clarifying the consultant's relationship with their own supervisors before meeting with a client. This includes naming what they need (such as freedom to tailor the approach) and what the boss expects (like implementing a new corporate system). The consultant should also contract with peers who serve the same client, especially in large organisations where overlapping responsibilities can cause confusion.

To manage these complexities, invitation is a powerful principle. Rather than mandating solutions or using subtle coercion, invite managers and stakeholders to collaborate. People who freely choose involvement usually bring stronger commitment. An honest conversation about choices often reveals that individuals have more latitude than they think. By raising the possibility of invitation with bosses and co-consultants, an internal consultant can foster true partnership rather than mere compliance.

Part 3: More Fundamentals

Chapter 10: Understanding Resistance

Resistance often shows up when the client must confront an uncomfortable reality or difficult choice. It can be frustrating for consultants who assume that if their message is logical and well-presented, it will be embraced. But resistance is a natural, even necessary, part of the learning process. It expresses underlying concerns about control or vulnerability, and it arises in many forms.

Common Forms of Resistance

• Requests for More Detail or Excessive Detail: The client either keeps demanding finer information or overwhelms you with trivial data.
• Time Constraints: "Too busy now—maybe next quarter." Meetings are interrupted, or the client is perpetually short on time.
• Impracticality: The client dismisses suggestions as unrealistic or "not for the real world."
• "I'm Not Surprised": A subtle move to underplay new findings and maintain a feeling of control.
• Attack: Open anger or blaming, often leaving you feeling defensive.
• Confusion: Repeatedly claiming not to understand, even after multiple clear explanations.
• Silence: Little or no response—rarely means actual acceptance.
• Intellectualising: Shifting from the urgency of action to abstract theorising.
• Moralising: Talking about "those people" who need to change, rather than looking inward.
• Compliance: Overly eager agreement that lacks real conviction.
• Methodology Obsessions: Detailed questioning of how data was gathered, past the point of reason.
• Flight into Health: Suddenly deciding the problem doesn't exist or has "fixed itself."
• Pushing for Solutions: Urging immediate fixes without real exploration of the underlying issues.

All of these reactions protect clients from confronting a tough truth: they may need to make difficult decisions or risk losing autonomy or status. The same project that promises improvement can also mean the unknown. By recognising that resistance stems from fear of losing control or from deeper vulnerability, consultants can avoid taking it personally. Their job is to help clients express these worries directly, so they don't emerge in hidden or counterproductive ways.

Sometimes objections are not resistance: a manager may plainly refuse a project or say no in a direct, responsible way. That is simply choice, not defensiveness. But most resistance echoes deeper fears: clients want solutions yet also seek confirmation that they've done nothing wrong. Understanding this tension reveals that being "sent in to help" can be intimidating for managers who feel judged or forced into change.

Ultimately, the consultant's skill lies in naming what is happening, accepting that resistance signals emotional discomfort, and surfacing those concerns openly. This stops the client from hiding behind misdirection—whether it's more data, compliance, or moralising—and increases the chance that real change will take root.

Chapter 11: Dealing with Resistance

Consultants can't "overcome" resistance by force because it's an emotional response to perceived loss of control or increased vulnerability. The goal is to help clients express their concerns directly so the tension can ease and real work can begin. There are three essential steps:

1. Identify the form of resistance you see or hear.
2. Name it neutrally, with everyday language (for example, "You seem to have doubts about this approach…").
3. Be quiet and let the client respond.

A "stone" is a client who remains silent, uncommunicative, or dismissive no matter what. The conversation goes nowhere, and the client shows minimal reaction or involvement. When consulting with a stone, the following guidelines help minimise wasted energy:

1. Don't expect approval or support. The stone is likely to withhold positive feedback.
2. Don't assume 50/50 responsibility. They'll push it all onto you if they can.
3. Expect argument and criticism. Stay calm and acknowledge what you hear.
4. Avoid asking for their feelings. They probably won't share anyway.
5. Ask for understanding, not agreement. Seek clarity, not immediate acceptance.
6. Let them control the process details. If they need it, give them that sense of ownership.
7. Don't over-explain or justify. More data won't fix their lack of engagement.
8. Give them genuine support. Even resistant people need a sense they're heard.
9. Don't take it personally. Their resistance isn't about you.
10. Stay out of the weeds. Details can become a stall tactic.
11. Know you may not see results now. They might learn only after you're gone.
12. Maintain your confidence. Don't let their lack of responsiveness undermine you.

A true "stone" is rare. Sometimes providing steady support eventually helps them open up. Sometimes not. It's wise to limit your investment in a situation that's going nowhere and resist any impulse to become heroic or self-blaming.

Chapter 12: Technology

Modern communication technology brings speed and convenience but often reduces personal contact. People connect from anywhere, yet they lose the casual in-between moments where many genuine conversations occur. Online meetings or digital collaboration can become rigidly agenda-driven, with participants muted and relegated to listening to slides, undermining real engagement. A consultant working in these settings must intentionally design for human connection.

One approach is to reduce screen sharing, use small breakouts, and ask questions that go beyond data or logistics. This fosters a sense of personal ownership and mutual commitment. The best questions focus on why people care about the topic, what crossroads they face, and any vulnerabilities or doubts they hold. Hearing and responding to these personal stakes helps replicate the depth normally found in face-to-face settings.

A "high-engagement virtual hour" typically alternates brief presentations with small-group discussions. Randomly mixing participants encourages fresh voices and relationships. Instead of searching for "ice breakers," pose meaningful questions: "Why was it important for you to join this call?" or "If we adopt these ideas, what commitments must we make?" Keep slide presentations to a minimum. End by inviting each attendee to articulate tangible promises or share insights gained. This keeps everyone invested and fosters an authentic virtual community.

Though technology improves access and scale, it isn't inherently a system for deep connection. Email often distorts tone or intent, and purely one-way webinars limit people's involvement. Consultants can address these weaknesses by carefully structuring interactions, making space for personal reflection, and ensuring participants engage with each other, not just the host. By recognising what's lost in a virtual setting and compensating for it—using well-structured small groups, personal questions, and shared accountability—consultants maintain the relational core vital to successful projects.

Part 4: Discovery and Underlying Concerns

Chapter 13: From Diagnosis to Discovery

Consultants enter the discovery phase for two main purposes: to form an independent, fresh view of the situation and to ensure a process that leads to client commitment and action. Traditional methods treat discovery like a doctor's diagnosis, focusing on what's wrong and how to fix it. A more contemporary view shifts toward possibilities, strengths, and assets. This shift is championed by methods like Positive Deviance, which explores how certain people or groups already excel, and Appreciative Inquiry, which focuses on what's working well and how to build on it. Whether problem-based or possibility-based, discovery remains more than a purely technical analysis: it's about deepening the client's commitment and capacity to implement meaningful change.

Changing from Diagnosis to Possibilities - When you look only at what is wrong, you position yourself as an expert delivering prescriptions. This can undermine client ownership of the final solution and ignore the system's existing strengths. An asset- or future-based view encourages clients to see the things they do well and amplifies those successes throughout the organisation. This can lead to broader and more lasting improvements than a narrow focus on deficiencies.

Positive Deviance - Developed by Jerry and Monique Sternin, Positive Deviance looks for spots where a system already outperforms expectations. By examining why certain teams or families succeed despite limited resources, it taps into homegrown solutions and energises others to replicate those success factors.

Appreciative Inquiry - Originating with David Cooperrider, Appreciative Inquiry discovers what's most alive and working in an organisation. It aims to preserve and enhance the strengths, values, and successes that define a group at its best. Clients often find this approach more energising than problem-solving alone, and it can create a shared vision of a future everyone commits to building.

Focusing on Relationships - Regardless of the methodology, how you engage the client is critical. If you ignore the relationship side—things like politics, style, and organisational trust—you can deliver the right data in the wrong way and lose the client's commitment. Lasting solutions require each client's participation and willingness to act, so the process must include how they manage themselves and the situation. Discovery is not just about uncovering facts—it's about how the client uses those facts.

The Call to Action - Ultimately, discovery should prompt the client to take responsibility for next steps. It's not about delivering a perfectly researched report (that's a purely academic stance). Instead, it's an iterative, dialogue-rich process that must handle the politics, personal doubts, and practical constraints. By involving clients regularly and openly, you pave the way for them to accept and use new ideas effectively.

Research Approach vs. Action Approach

A research approach aims at understanding everything: you gather all factors, remain objective, and don't focus on whether your findings get adopted. An action approach focuses on relevant data that the client can actually do something about. You involve them in each step, simplify data to clarify choices, and use your own judgement—even your own biases—to highlight urgent possibilities. These differences boil down to four key points in an action approach:

1. Keep it simple: Concentrate on what the client can control and act on.
2. Use everyday language: Avoid jargon, so your findings are fully understood.
3. Maintain strong relationships: Involve clients often, deal with resistance openly, and share ownership.
4. Include organisational context: Notice how management style, internal politics, or relationships shape how your solutions will be received.

The Problem Is Not the Problem

Clients typically have a presenting problem—the pain point they believe causes their trouble. Usually this explanation hasn't solved the issue, so your value is in redefining the real problem. Often, the actual causes include how the problem is being managed: lack of accountability, ineffective feedback loops, or organisational politics. Bringing these hidden obstacles to the surface helps clients see their role in creating and solving the problem. This is the crux of turning a purely technical fix into a meaningful, sustainable change.

Things to remember in the discovery phase:

• Ask how the client's actions may be causing or maintaining the issue.
• Explore how others in the organisation are also contributing to or sustaining it.
• Involve the client in interpreting all data so they take ownership.
• Notice that how the client manages you parallels how they manage their own team.
• Condense data into a small number of actionable points.
• Use language that non-experts understand.
• Distinguish between the presenting problem and the underlying problem.
• Uncover both the technical or business issues and how they're being managed internally.

Chapter 14: Whole-System Discovery

Whole-system discovery engages everyone affected by a change in collectively defining the current reality, envisioning a desired future, and planning next steps. Instead of a separate consultant team conducting research and then "selling" recommendations, whole-system approaches bring a cross-section of participants—often hundreds of people—into a single event. Managers share information openly, all levels speak as equals, and the group jointly sets actions. This method bypasses the pitfalls of having outsiders prescribe solutions that others must adopt, and it promotes self-management: the same people who define the problem or opportunity also commit to solutions.

Third-party consulting centres on objective analysis by specialists or design teams who then offer proposals. Though efficient for purely technical issues, such proposals often struggle if the rest of the organisation feels only minimal ownership. By contrast, whole-system discovery relies on broad participation to build widespread buy-in. It requires the consultant to serve as convener, focusing on how to structure group dialogue, reduce status barriers, and provoke collective responsibility. When conditions allow for open sharing and real choice, the payoff is a more democratic and lasting change process where people walk away with higher commitment and deeper capacity to solve future challenges on their own.

Chapter 15: Discovering Gifts, Capacities and Acting on What We Know

Consultants can either fixate on problems or emphasise the gifts and capacities already present. Focusing on what works—not what's broken—tends to foster deeper commitment and more sustainable change. Approaches like Positive Deviance invite everyone in a system to notice local "bright spots" and replicate them. When experts step back from the authority role, they open space for those directly involved to learn, share, and co-create solutions.

Practical tips emerge from seeing yourself as a partner rather than an expert. A partnership mindset changes the contract and discovery process.

Three Elements of Partnerships

1. A clear, mutual contract on what each party wants, including any concerns or vulnerabilities.
2. A willingness to learn together, built through genuine enquiry and listening.
3. A shared belief that answers reside within the people most affected, regardless of how much "expert" knowledge is on offer.

From Teachers to Learning Consultants - Shift from delivering answers to inviting exploration, where mistakes become valuable fuel for real learning rather than evidence of failure or disobedience.

Core Questions in Consultation, Partnership, and Leadership

• How do you feel about working together on this project?
• What are you up against?
• What do you want from me?
• Here's what I want from you.
• Where do we agree?
• Where do you feel vulnerable or worry about losing control?
• What is your contribution to the problem?
• What are you already really good at?
• What choices do you have?

Each question respects the capacity of those involved to shape their own future, recognising that clarity, trust, and shared ownership outrank any single "best" solution an expert might provide.

Part 5: Analysis and the Decision to Act

Chapter 16: Focusing on the Picture

Effective discovery creates a clear picture of what's happening and sets the groundwork for action. It can focus on fixing problems or identifying strengths and possibilities, and it can involve outside experts or the whole system in self-assessment. Regardless of approach, the consultant's role is to define the enquiry, collect data, manage resistance, and reduce information to a clear, actionable picture.

Six Things to Do in This Phase

1. Collect data at three layers of analysis (presenting problem, what others are doing, and the client's own role).
2. Assess the organisational climate, including its culture and political realities.
3. Anticipate and handle client reluctance or resistance to sharing information.
4. Involve stakeholders so that the discovery process itself builds ownership.
5. Narrow the findings to a short list of central issues or possibilities.
6. Translate what you learn into clear, meaningful choices for action.

Fourteen Steps to Get the Picture

1. Re-decide to Proceed: Confirm mutual commitment and incentive to move forward.
2. Select the Discovery Strategy: Decide on a problem or possibility focus, and choose between third-party or self-managed discovery.
3. Identify the Presenting Problem: Recognise the client's initial concern or desired future.
4. Decide Who Will Be Involved: Determine a cross-section of people whose input matters.
5. Select Dimensions to Examine: Pick which questions to ask and limit them.
6. Select the Method(s) of Enquiry: Interviews, surveys, observations, self-assessment, or document review.
7. Collect Data and Observations: Gather information until patterns emerge.
8. Funnel the Information: Sift through data, zeroing in on crucial themes.
9. Summarise the Picture: Present findings in a concise, visual form.
10. Construct Meaning: Identify what's important and why.
11. Manage the Feedback Meeting: Share results with stakeholders, allowing time for discussion and resistance.
12. Offer Choices/Recommendations: Highlight options under the client's control.
13. Facilitate a Decision: Ensure a clear commitment is made.
14. Implementation: Support action and keep clarifying how insights apply in real life.

Areas to Talk About in Interviews with Stakeholders

• Goals, subgroups, and relationships
• Support and evaluation processes
• Celebrated strengths or best practices
• Status differences, power, and conflict
• Leadership style and decision-making norms
• Attitudes about this project or about your role
• Diversity and inclusion of different voices
• Practical ideas for going forward

The Discovery Interview

The interview is often a key discovery method. It builds relationships by letting people see that their views matter. If you hit resistance, acknowledge it openly rather than forcing more questions. Real listening in the interview can prompt stakeholders to rethink the status quo or commit to a new possibility on the spot.

Layers of Analysis

A crucial tool is looking beyond the presenting problem. Typically:

• Top Layer: The technical or business issue the client names first
• Second Layer: Actions others take that shape or sustain the situation
• Third Layer: How the client's own behaviour contributes—often the hardest to admit

Moving through these layers reveals hidden causes and fosters accountability.

Checklist: Planning a Discovery Meeting

• Pay attention to how the client manages the conversation.
• Clarify the presenting problem/possibility and your own hypothesis of deeper causes or future visions.
• Identify relevant history, folklore, or potential blind spots.
• Plan both supportive and confronting statements.
• Observe nonverbal signals about commitment.
• Decide which organisational factors (culture, norms, authority patterns) you want to examine.

Checklist: Reviewing the Discovery Meeting

• Note how much control the client or consultant held and how much energy there was.
• Revisit the three layers (top problem, others' roles, client's own role).
• Identify key organisational folklore, hidden heroes, or unacknowledged villains.
• Recall any support or confrontation you provided.
• Reflect on nonverbal cues that signalled willingness or resistance.
• Decide which findings to highlight for the next steps.

Chapter 17: Preparing for Feedback

Present a clear picture of the situation — how a problem or possibility has arisen and who's contributing—often helps the client see new solutions for themselves.

The goal is to present that picture succinctly and avoid drowning people in data. The real payoff of your expertise is sharing a fresh view of the situation, not delivering an exhaustive inventory of facts.

Don’t forget to make clear recommendations. Recommendations matter because they open dialogue rather than conclude it.

Do

• Share a concise picture: Condense large amounts of data into a handful of key themes.
• Cover what's working: Include positive confirmations and strengths so the client feels validated.
• Confront respectfully: Point out where the client may be contributing to the issue, but do it supportively.
• Trust your intuition: Rely on your judgement to highlight what really matters.
• Be specific: Describe real behaviours or events instead of vague generalisations.

Don't

• Collude: Avoid explanations that place blame entirely outside the client's influence.
• Project: Don't assume your own discomfort or anxiety means the client "can't handle" certain information.
• Over-explain: Keep your statements brief and avoid endless justifications or defensive elaborations.
• Judge: Stay descriptive rather than labelling the client's style as "weak" or "controlling."
• Stereotype: Refrain from global statements that lump everyone or everything into the same category.

Aim to Be Authentic and Assertive - Being authentic means speaking your true observations and feelings without withholding or sugarcoating. Being assertive means stating your views directly, without criticising or putting the client down. Assertiveness avoids two extremes: aggression (you blame or belittle) and non-assertion (you hold back essential truths). By staying descriptive, concrete, and respectful, you maintain trust while telling the client what they need to hear.

Presenting – Consultant as Witness - Instead of a judge or prosecutor who tries to pin blame, you act as a fair witness. You aren't there to pronounce a verdict but to share what you observed. This neutral stance helps clients consider your perspective without feeling attacked. You still confront issues that require attention, yet you do it by describing what you see rather than handing down judgements. This approach strengthens the conversation about recommendations and next steps.

Chapter 18: Managing the Meeting for Action

The 6 Things You Need to Do in This Phase

1. Keep the picture focused: Use everyday language and avoid getting lost in technical details or excessive data.
2. Include personal and organisational data: Along with business/technical findings, show how people and culture affect the issue.
3. Control the meeting: Structure it so you move toward action, not endless debate or detours.
4. Attend to the "here and now": Notice resistance or momentum as it happens, and name it.
5. Don't take it personally: Resistance is about the problem and the client's anxiety, not you.
6. Stay authentic: If you feel confused or notice the group is stuck, say so. Being honest fosters better outcomes.

How to Present the Picture

• Be Succinct: Avoid a massive data dump. Boil it down to a few key points.
• Mix Data and Recommendations Carefully: Introduce your analysis, then offer recommendations—but don't bury recommendations under reams of facts.
• Use Common Language: Jargon can alienate people and create unnecessary resistance.
• Highlight What's in the Client's Control: Focus on what they can actually change or build on.

10-Step Meeting Structure:

1. Restate the original contract: Remind everyone of what you agreed to do and the scope of your work.
2. State the agenda/structure: Explain briefly how the meeting will proceed, emphasising that you want ample time for discussion.
3. Present a clear picture: Share your key findings on why the problem or opportunity exists (or what strengths exist).
4. Offer recommendations: Describe choices the client has rather than just giving directives.
5. Ask for client reactions: Encourage them to voice concerns, agreements, or questions so you can gauge where they stand.
6. At the halfway point, ask if they're getting what they want: This mid-check prevents discovering dissatisfaction when it's too late to fix.
7. Facilitate a decision: Shift to concrete next steps, ensuring they have the authority and willingness to follow through.
8. Test for concerns of control or commitment: Ask if they feel comfortable with their level of influence and if they're truly on board.
9. Ask if you got what you wanted: You may want feedback, future involvement, or recognition. Make it explicit.
10. Give support: Implementation is stressful. End by affirming them for facing hard truths or making tough calls.

Spotting and Dealing with Resistance in the Meeting

• Listen for Familiar Signs: People asking repetitive questions, disputing facts, seeking more details than needed, or stalling decisions.
• Name It: Gently point out if you sense hostility, confusion, or reluctance.
• Don't Over-Defend: Give two good-faith responses, then acknowledge it as resistance rather than clarifying endlessly.
• Return Responsibility: Prompt the client to see that they're resisting action they must ultimately own.
• Stay Neutral: Present data or issues as an observer, not a judge or prosecutor.

Checklist for Planning the Meeting

• Clarify Your Objective: Do you want consensus, a decision, or simply to gauge the group's readiness?
• Schedule Enough Discussion Time: Balance presentation and conversation.
• Use Descriptive Wording: Keep your statements non-evaluative.
• Anticipate Resistance: Think about the key points likely to trigger pushback.
• Check Attendees: Ensure that the real decision-makers and key stakeholders will be present.
• Plan to Ask for Feedback Midway: Set a reminder to pause and see if they're getting what they need.

Checklist for After the Meeting

• Note the Outcome: Did you get the decision or alignment you aimed for?
• Revisit the Findings: How did the group's discussion change or confirm your original analysis?
• Observe Resistance: How did it appear and how did you address it?
• Evaluate Your Role: Did you over-defend, or invite enough client ownership?
• Notice Nonverbal Cues: Did tension, silence, or side comments signal deeper issues?
• Assess the Relationship: Are you closer to or more distant from the client as a result?
• Identify Next Moves: Decide what follow-up is needed to support them in carrying out decisions.

Part 6: Engagement and Implementation

Chapter 19: Implementation

Implementation often fails, not from poor decisions, but from undervaluing how people become genuinely committed. Knowing what to do is different from sparking a real shift in thinking and behaviour. Shifts in mindset require more than mandates and rational plans. They need deep engagement and mutual accountability. Below are key practical tips related to each core idea in this chapter:

Choosing Engagement over Installation: Engagement trumps engineering: You can't just "install" a change and expect people to comply. Deep involvement fosters real commitment.

• Invite ownership: Build in ways for employees to shape the work rather than simply be told what to do.
• Consider intangible factors: Rational checklists and timelines matter, but they ignore relationships, norms, and motivations that actually drive results.

Deciding Doesn't Get It Done: A top-level decision is only the start: People at all levels must decide for themselves to carry out the plan.

• Suspend the myth of "executive decisiveness": Leaders often know that issuing directives doesn't guarantee action.
• Co-design next steps: If the people doing the work help decide how to proceed, the likelihood of follow-through rises.

The Limits of Installation: Beware overreliance on linear, stepwise approaches: They seldom address the emotional and cultural realities of change.

• Stop pushing: Hard sells or "driving" a new process can breed deeper resistance.
• Support people's readiness: Implementation speeds up when employees choose it, not when forced.

Transformation by Lamination: Avoid top-down visions: Laminated vision statements from leaders alone rarely move the organisation forward.

• Vision must remain alive: A real vision evolves through widespread participation, not just an edict from the top.
• Co-create direction: Let groups articulate their shared future rather than trying to 'roll out' a prefabricated statement.

People Need Fixing: Don't fix "those people": Crafting a plan in secret to change others can undermine trust and personal responsibility.

• Flip the mirror: Focus on how managers or experts might adapt their own actions first.
• Celebrate existing strengths: Engagement rests on recognising capabilities people already have.

If We Can't Measure It, It Doesn't Matter: Measurement is helpful, not decisive: Some success factors (like morale or trust) can't be cleanly measured. They still count.

• Let doers control the data: Individuals will respond better to metrics they choose than to those imposed from above.
• Honour the non-quantifiable: Much of what's essential for transformation—like courage or connection—defies hard metrics.

Betting on Engagement: Shift from telling to inviting: Real change thrives on voluntary cooperation, not mandates.

• Use community organising skills: Tap into people's desire to shape their future.
• See commitment as your main outcome: Tools like measures or visions can support, but do not substitute for, personal buy-in.

Summary in a Few Short Paragraphs

Implementation falters when we treat organisations like machines that can simply have a new process installed. True change demands deep engagement, where people choose to act because they see value and share in designing the steps. A key trap is believing that a single decision from the top—often in the form of a laminated vision or rigid new standards—will automatically lead to transformation. Another mistake is focusing solely on rational measures or diagnosing people's "deficiencies", assuming we can fix them.

Instead, bet on genuine involvement. Let those most affected by the transformation shape it. Recognise human factors like personal choice, relationships, and intangible capabilities. Avoid imposing one-size-fits-all rules or leaning too heavily on measurement as a control device. If you build from people's strengths and commitment, your technical expertise will have a better chance of taking root and delivering the impact everyone hopes for.

Chapter 20: The Structures of Engagement

Many well-intended change efforts fail because people aren't fully engaged. It's not enough to plan or make a decision; true success depends on how people come together to talk, choose, and act. Effective implementation asks for structures that promote openness, ownership, and accountability—where people are invited to help shape the future instead of being told what to do.

Eight Ways to Engage:

1. Open with transparent purpose: State concerns or goals plainly, acknowledge any failures, and lay out the structure of the session. Avoid motivational speeches from leaders who leave right away.
2. Contract for participation: Ask participants how valuable an experience they plan to have. Let them know they're co-creators, not mere audience members.
3. Rearrange the room: Make seating circular or otherwise inclusive, so there's no single "head of the table." Physical space signals whether you want collaboration or passive reception.
4. Encourage openness and doubt: Give people permission to voice doubts and cynicism in public, so they don't hide honest concerns in hallway whispers.
5. Ask "what do we want to create together?": This question shifts people from reacting to others' plans to taking responsibility for a common future.
6. Spark a new conversation: Stop rehashing old grievances or predictable scripts. Tackle new questions that challenge people to think differently.
7. Foster voluntary commitment: Invite each person to decide what they will do unconditionally, without bargaining for something in return.
8. Acknowledge gifts: When closing a meeting, ask what people appreciate about each other's contributions. Focusing on strengths raises morale and deepens connection.

Implementation doesn't occur just because leaders give an inspiring speech or set the right measures. People act when they see themselves as free to shape decisions and commit to them. That freedom emerges in meetings and conversations where new voices are heard, doubts are surfaced, and everyone shares responsibility. Engagement structures—big or small—make real change possible. Rather than relying on power or persuasion alone, they shift how people come together so that each gathering becomes a living example of the future you're trying to create.

Checklist for Preparing Implementation:

1. Plan for balance: Limit presentations so there's enough time for genuine discussion.
2. Create room for honesty: Make sure participants know they can speak freely about hopes and hesitations.
3. Set up real choices: Design conversations where people have genuine options and can choose how to contribute.
4. Look for new conversations: Ask questions that break old habits or challenge routine dialogues.
5. Use space wisely: Consider how the physical or virtual setup either promotes or stifles connection.

Checklist for Reviewing an Implementation:

1. Energy assessment: Did participants leave more enthusiastic, or drained?
2. Surprises: Note where reality diverged from expectations.
3. Engagement patterns: Observe risk-taking, creativity, or passivity.
4. Space effectiveness: Check if a different layout changed interaction.
5. Objection handling: Did people speak doubts freely and openly?
6. Collective creation: Did they decide what to create together or stick to rehashing old topics?
7. Dialogue quality: Identify fresh questions or ideas that emerged.
8. Commitment tracking: Evaluate whether promises were unconditional or transactional.
9. Closure assessment: Was everyone's effort acknowledged? Did you validate contributions?
10. Relationship impact: Reflect on trust and mutual understanding gained or lost.

By weaving these structures into each step of implementation, you invite authentic ownership. That sense of choice and collaboration—rather than top-down imposition—carries a project beyond simple compliance into genuine, enduring change.

Part 7: Extension, Recycle or Termination

Chapter 21: Transformation Will Not Be Televised, Livestreamed or Managed

Organisations often rely on teaching, selling answers, or imposing standards to effect change. This creates compliance without true commitment. Real transformation arises when people learn together and shift their collective story. Designing social settings and conversations that invite participants to co-create possibilities and confront their freedom—rather than simply absorbing a consultant's or leader's teaching—is essential.

Learning over teaching means each interaction allows people to discover and shape knowledge for themselves. Traditional training or manager-led lecturing keeps control at the front of the room. Though efficient, it fails to engage participants' full capacities or ownership. We strengthen learning by valuing peer-to-peer dialogue, challenging certainty, risking candid feedback, and letting people co-design their own solutions.

All learning is social. People grasp new insights best by talking with and working alongside each other, yet many systems still prioritise individual performance and competition. Shifting to mutual accountability expands responsibility beyond formal leaders. Each person is answerable for the quality of the whole system, not just their piece of it. This perspective fosters shared commitment and breaks the belief that someone else must change first.

We can act immediately, treating each meeting or conversation as a microcosm of the desired future. Even if management aims for a broad cultural transformation, its credibility depends on how today's gathering is conducted. Will it invite dissent, respect autonomy, and speak honestly? If so, we demonstrate we needn't wait for policy changes or new measures. We can behave differently right now, offering people genuine choice in how they engage.

If change is necessary, we each go first. Emphasising what "they" must do next is convenient but evades our own complicity. Meaningful shifts happen when those seeking or guiding change also allow themselves to be changed. Lastly, the deepest lever for consulting is faith: trusting that people's inherent capacity and willingness to choose accountability can surpass any engineered mandate. By showing up with honesty, speaking the unspoken, and treating others as co-creators, we not only help clients solve problems but help them write—and live into—a new narrative.