So I read The Secrets of Consulting by Gerald M. Weinberg. I’m not sure if they were secrets, per say, but rather a plethora of wisdom that extends far beyond consulting, but hey, that doesn’t make for nearly as much of a good title as the current title does. Marketing.
Some of the anecdotes and his vaguely colloquial speaking manner were jarring to me; I had a bit of a trouble understanding it. Like I or it was foreign in context. That was somewhat of a block for me, but I got used to it eventually, though it still feels murky to me.
As I said before, the ideas posited by Weinberg aren’t necessarily consulting specific, but were more concepts and ideas that enhanced the consulting experience. Things such as:
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Pricing is more than just the money; it also demonstrates subjective value and ‘worth.’
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Sometimes problems are solutions in disguise (taken from the ‘if you can’t fix it, feature it’ rule, which I really liked.)
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Try to suggest something that isn’t being done or give an alternative perspective.
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People aren’t really forthcoming about problems.
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Trust takes time to earn but no time at all to be obliterated.
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Resisting change causes change.
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The more you struggle the higher probability you will lose the thing you are struggling to keep.
And so on. I particularly liked the areas of the book concerned with change and goals. The sort-proverb about the guy traveling so he could one day stay at home, eventually finds he can’t handle staying still and the reverse. I’m still thinking over that. It really struck a chord with me.
It’s basically a book on how to deal with people who are in a mess. It reminded me of a book called Influence and a few other books on being savvy I’ve read. This book spun this avenue of advice into a consulting angle, which is all well and good. Sometimes a different way of phrasing helps give people an epiphany. Which is one of the points of consulting.