by kaibara87

To beat the competition you must not only be the best one in your category. You must be the best in the category that’s in demand. Information technology has high pace of change. So consultant’s services must change rapidly, he must offer high quality services on demand.

John Arthur Ricketts gives the following attribute to service on demand in his book Reaching The Goal: How Managers Improve a Services Business Using Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints

• Responsive
• Variable
• Focused
• Resilient

Want to beat the competition? Consider adopting these attributes too.

Responsive Services

Rickets writes:

Responsive – The enterprise can sense and respond because it has an integrated view of its customer, employees, suppliers, business partners, and competitors.

To build my responsiveness for customers’ needs I put under my radar anything that can have significant impact on the customers. Here are few examples:

• Customer’s industry or vertical’s news. For example, If it finance sector then new regulations can lead to services opportunities.
• Technology updates related to the customer’s environment. Knowing well customer’s current situation and tech trends can support a consultant in helping a customer to build a roadmap for tech refresh and potentially getting a gig.
• Personal preferences updates. For example, a customer might be a football fan. Being updated regarding related news can help striking another engaging conversation that in the end can lead to discussing a business.
• Anticipated changes at customer’s. Collect customer’s information beyond the scope of your current project or assignment. This would help you both aligning yourself better to the organization needs and potentially would create a leads for possible future gigs.

Variable Services

Rickets writes

Variable – The enterprise can alter its productivity, costs, marketing, and finances as conditions change because it has flexible processes and resource.

The main cost for consultant is related to time. Billable time and non-billable time. Reducing non-billable time related to non-productive work reduces cost dramatically!! But remember! Training and self recreation IS productive work although it is non-billable. That means you have to have clear processes and procedures to accomplish your tasks faster without spending time for adminstrativa, commuting, or other non-productive work. Here are few approaches I use to reduce non-productive work:

• Have marketing one page glossies to be sent or left behind for potential prospects.
• Have baseline SOW’s to be quickly customized as needed.
• Have delivery kits that guide the deliver processes.
• Have the list of common problems and solutions.

Focused Services

Rickets writes:

Focused – The enterprise concentrates on its core competencies while using strategic business partners to handle its noncore tasks.

Focusing on my strengths helps me build my expertise. The better expert I become the faster I can produce a quality results. Surveying customer proves it time and again, they keep responding that timely quality response is what they value the most. As Gerald M. Weinberg put it in his epic book Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully:

The wider your spread the thinner it gets.”

Resilient Services

Rickets writes:

Resilient – The enterprise rapidly handles changes and deals with threats because it has a flexible operating environment.

I adopted this approach following Mark Twain advice:

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.”

It helped me reinvent myself several times. Being a consultant I was focusing on several areas:security, performance, and solution architecture to mention a few. I am having fun, I am fully utilized, and I am working on high impact challenges. I was reacting to market demand proactively by building my skills upfront. Such resilience helped me staying in the game. To effectively build myself for the next challenge without hurting my utilization and work/life balance I apply the following techniques:

• Proactively allocate time for training. Give it high priority as it was your most valuable customer. Make sure any time collisions are resolved the way that does not hurt your training roadmap.
• Know the trends. Read well recognized blogs and other online resources. Identify the trends.
• Build your network. Connect personally with those in the know. Do not abuse the connection. Use it only for critical decision making. Ask really good questions - make the other guy want you to ask those questions in the future.
• Practice. Build your expertise by getting your feet wet and your hands dirty – there is no other way around, you must know it first hand.

Practice This - Get Results

• Know what’s important to the customer or what can have an impact it his business – be responsive.
• Cut fat, reduce costs by being more effective with less – be variable.
• Invest in your strengths, build your deep dive skills – be focused.
• Build yourself for the next challenge now – be resilient.
• Read Reaching The Goal: How Managers Improve a Services Business Using Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints - beat the competition.

My Related Posts

• Free eBook: Effective Time Management With MS Outlook 2007
• Consultant Overcomes Constraints and Reaches the Goal in 5 Steps
• 5 Stages of Successful Consulting Gig
• Consultant Writes Proposals That Sell

 
by nDevilTV

In most cases when you follow the rules or do it by the book you succeed. So, what are the rules for conducting successful consulting gig? Got book?

I am on continuous hunt after good consulting books .Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used by Peter Block seems like one of best of breed. It is chocked with prescriptive guidance that can perfectly serve both aspiring and seasoned consultants. My favorite part is his description of 5 stages for each consulting gig: [1] Entry and Contracting, [2] Discovery and Dialogue, [3] Feedback and Decision to Act, [4] Engagement and Implementation, [5] Extension, Recycle or Termination.

Getting or giving consultation? Read on.

Phase 1: Entry and Contracting

Block writes:

It includes setting up the first meetings as well as exploring what the problem is, whether the consultant is the right person to work on this issue, what the client’s expectations are, and how to get started.

Nothing can be more frustrating as trying to solve wrong problem or being the wrong guy. In fact, I am involved with two related gigs. With one I am the wrong guy, and the other – the customer still have not figured out what he wants to do with me after he signed the contract. I confess – it all sucks. On less emotional and more practical note here is another angle – my brand gets seriously hurt, customer satisfaction goes down, the trust gets broken, the deliverable is hardly to hit the deadlines, future gigs won’t come from such customer.

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” – Peter Druker

Phase 2: Discovery and Dialogue

Block writes:

The questions here for the consultant are: Who is going to be involved in defining the problem? What methods will be used? What kind of data should be collected? and How long will it take?

This step requires intelligence skills – here you need to identify the main players and their WIIFM. Mobilize your skills to understand how many of the players will benefit from potential solution and how many will actually hurt. With consulting it’s extremely rare situation when everybody’s happy. If you solve a problem it means that something or someone gets ax – otherwise why would they call you onsite? Identify the strongest player and play by his rules.

Phase 3: Feedback and the Decision to Act

Block writes:

This phase is really what many people call planning. It includes setting ultimate goals for the project and selecting the best action steps or changes.

My father always liked to say that properly stated problem definition is half of the solution [Damn it! I miss you so much, Papa]. That is why in my SOW’s I always allocate time for scoping the problem – it both helps to focus on high ROI activities and prevents the scope runaway during the engagement implementation.

Phase 4: Engagement and Implementation

Block writes:

In many cases the implementation may fall entirely on the line organization. For larger change efforts, the consultant may be deeply involved.

Getting deeply involved is my favorite part with consulting. But watch out, keep away from making the decisions on customer’s behalf. At some point a customer may want to move the responsibility of making decision to a consultant. Either due to highest trust that was established or just because the customer hates making decisions. It happens too. Offer tools to make a decision, not the decision. It’s a slippery road, do not slip – you might fall.

Phase 5: Extension, Recycle, or Termination

Block writes:

There are many options for ending the relationship, and terminations should be considered a legitimate and important part of the consultation. If done well, it can provide an important learning experience for the client and the consultant and also keep the door open for future work with the organization.

The deliverable is delivered, the gig is wrapped and the customer is happy. Heaven. It is the best time to offer your services for problems identified during the gig implementation. Market it, sell it, close it! You’d never have a better chance to promote your services.

The gig went all wrong? Terminate it as it was success – with a smile. Keep doors open, never slam it. You might get another chance in the future with the customer – all the investment you made onsite worth something, eh? Customer understands it too.

Practice This - Get Results

• Ask the right questions – identify key personas and key objectives.
• Set scope – focus on high ROI, guard yourself from scope runaways.
• Practice emotional intelligence [EQ] – it is powerful weapon, but watch out, it is explosive.
• Read Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used - learn the rules, play by the rules, succeed.

My Related Posts

• What’s The Powerful Skill Of All? Is It Asking The Right Questions?
• Consultant Writes Proposals That Sell
• Creatures Of Logic And Creatures Of Emotion
• Emotional Intelligence - Core Skills

 
by Philo Nordlund

Customers want immediate results. That is the name of the game – fast results. If you cannot offer fast results you are out of the game.

Have you asked yourself what bogs you down? What are the constraints that hold you back from producing great results fast?

I have few ideas after reading a book by John Arthur Ricketts Reaching The Goal: How Managers Improve a Services Business Using Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints. Rickets applies the Theory of Constraints [TOC] presented by Goldratt in his book The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement to Consulting Practice.

Here are 5 core steps  for applying TOC in Consulting Practice according to Rickets:

1. Figure out where the constraints are
2. Utilize the constraint to its fullest extent
3. Make sure that non-constraints keep the constraint busy
4. Improve productivity of the constraint
5. Repeat the previous steps

Constraints

The first step is figuring out what your constraints are. As a consultant I identify these three core constraints:

• My managers.
• The sales force.
• Myself.

Take Your Manager To The Max

What’s your managers purpose? To me it seems pretty simple, here is what manager should do:

• Set goals for me.
• Remove obstacles that are out of your control.

Instead, many times  managers do quite the opposite:

• Set unrealistic goals.
• Add more obstacles.

In this case it becomes a serious constraint for a consultant in achieving his goals.

Here is what one can do in order to utilize the constraint to its fullest:

• Set achievable goals. ”Sir, I understand you want to hit your mark, but I am only human. Here are some more realistic numbers.”
• Escalate obstacles that are out of your control and ask to remove it. ”Call that customer and force him to attend the meeting, you do not want to send him a bill full of ”Trying to set a meeting”, aren’t you?”
• Set priorities (utilization, satisfaction, revenue, readiness, etc.).“That blogging thing is really important, but please get me off of it so I can successfully wrap up my current gig.”

Take The Sales Forces To The Max

Sales people generally do two things – they forecast the sales and sell. When they sell, a consultant has a job, when they don’t sell the consultant sits on the bench [bad thing!]. So in short there are two constraints that sales folks pose to a consultant:

• Sell stuff consultant can hardly deliver [blur contracts, contracts that does not include consultant’s expertise].
• No sales.

Following are proven practices that helped me to utilize the constraint to the max:

• Help salesman to generate backlog for you:
  • Determine your value prop. What do you put on the table? What customers value you the most for? If you have hard times to quickly answer these questions you have serious and immediate problem to solve.
  • Generate related SOW’lets. SOW’let – SOW skeleton that outlines your activities and deliverables, it is the building block for a salesman. It should prevent creating blur contracts and SOW’s that you have no clue how to deliver.
• Help salesman generate more backlog for you
  • Send him related SOW’let when opportunity in the sight. Consultant is a field guy and he sees opportunities first hand. Waste no time.

Take Yourself To The Max

You are your biggest obstacle and constraint. Period.

Here are techniques that help me unleash myself:

• Create delivery kits to make the process straightforward:
  • Questionnaire to collect the data.
  • Questionnaire to analyze the data.
  • Common issues list.
  • Ready to use list for how-to’s that show how to solve the common issues.
• Create your personal KB  [knowledge base]
  • Do not just rely on Desktop search and Google – it brings too much noise and wastes time.
  • Make it extremely easy and fast to access. Make sure you get what you want in less clicks (How to Use Outlook 2007 RSS To Effectively Aggregate And Distill Information, Consume patterns&practices Guidance Explorer Via RSS Using Outlook 2007)
• Mater time management
  • Free eBook: Effective Time Management With MS Outlook 2007
• Follow rigid Prioritization rules
  • Use Covey’s prioritization quadrants

Practice This - Get Results

• Identify your constraints – know what holds you back
• Utilize your constraints to the max – unleash yourself and break the limits
• Read The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement and Reaching The Goal: How Managers Improve a Services Business Using Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints - the foundations of Theory Constraints and how to apply it in practice.

My Related Posts

• Program Yourself For Extremely Fast Performance
• Kaizen – Continuous Improvement The Japanese Way
• Personal Improvement - Kaizen Focus On Process

 
by seanmcgrath

If you are into personal development like me you must have a mentor or two.

J.D. goes even further making everyone his mentor.

Why having a mentor? What do they do to us? And how it helps us to grow?

I like how Sr. Ken Robinson explains it in his book The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. Sr. Robinson says mentors are about recognition, encouragement, facilitating, and stretching.

My mentors are my secret weapon that helps me get quickly back into the saddle when I fall, it helps me find my track and keep up with it, it helps me grow exponentially.

Recognition

Mentors are  in the know. They can identify a diamond in the rough. Have not you had that feeling “I really want to do it, but will I succeed?” Good mentor will tell you simply – “You can do it. I can see it in you. You have everything to succeed in it.”

Encouragement

So you go ahead and make your move and… fail. Good mentor will tell you it means nothing. He will tell you the story about himself and his mentor and how he was failing again and again until he figured out the right path to the dream of success. He might also send you Michael Jordan’s Nike Failure commercial as a proof.

Facilitating

Good mentor does not only pushes you forward with encouragements. He also gives you the tools for your success. Any good mentor has a wealth of tools to share. The tools that facilitate you to achieve more, faster, better results. Ask your mentor for the tool of trade. Ask him about how he manages his time, ask him about how he prioritize, ask him about how he influences without authority, ask him how he recreates himself. Ask him tons of questions. Being mentee is driving, not being driven.

Stretching

Success is about constant growth. One time achievement only proves you are on the right path. Today’s achievement is tomorrow’s commodity. How do you continue to keep succeeding? The way you do it is by setting new goals and objectives. Good mentor won’t let you set average mediocre goals. Good mentor will stretch you to the next level, something you have never thought you could do. Listen to him and apply practices that worked, ask for more tools for success.

Practice This - Get Results

• Get yourself a mentor – make sure he is not only in the know but also he knows how to recognize the talent.
• Ask your mentor for tools for success – get equipped properly before investing your time and energy.
• Get stretched – you either grow or die, there is no in between.
• Read The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything - you will be overwhelmed with true stories of success and how to apply it to your life.

My Related Posts

• Secret Revealed: The Power to Change Anything
• Meet Me 2.0

 
by zedzap

Bloggers’ eyes are at strains as blogging requires tons of reading. Especially it is painful for part time bloggers as they do it at night when the light is less than optimal.

The result is pretty expected – at some point bloggers prescribed to wear eyeglasses.

That is exactly what happened to me a year ago at age of 36. While almost everyone tells me the glasses suit me I admit it is a pain – physical and logistical [and financial].

William H. Bates shares practical techniques to improve eyesight in his book The Bates Method for Better Eyesight Without Glasses. I adopted 3 of them as they seemed to me something I can stick and practice for a long period of time.

Resting the Eye

Bates writes:

The simplest way to rest the eye is to close the for a longer or shorter period and think about something agreeable. This is always the first thing to do, and there are very few people who are not temporarily benefitted by it.

Nothing seems scientific here, right? It is very natural to close eyes and give it a rest for sometime. Now ask yourself, how many times you do it throughout the day?

Here is the plan – allocate 5 minutes each reading hour to close your eyes and give it a rest.

Palming

Bates writes:

A still greater degree of rest can be obtained by closing and covering the eyes so as to exclude all the light… When you can palm perfectly you will see a field so black that it is impossible to remember, imagine, or see, anything blacker , and when you are able to do this yours sight will be normal.

Light is what helps and hurts our eyes, when at rest it’s best when no light is felt at all. Palming helps me.

Sun Treatment

Bates writes:

Sun is as necessary to normal eye as is rest and relaxation. If it is possible, start the day by exposing the closed eyes to the sun. Just few minutes at a time will help.

I must admit – I feel most productive in the morning. Now I clearly understand it is because I read and write with sun light that makes reading much easier and fun.

Practice This - Get Results

Blogger, improve your eyesight with these simple practices:

• Give your eyes a rest by simply closing it and palming.
• Let sun heal your eyes – expose your closed eyes to the sun.
• Read The Bates Method for Better Eyesight Without Glasses for more practices and the explanations why it works.

My Related Posts

• Consultant Substitutes Leisure For Labour
• Close Your Eyes And See Bigger Picture

by mollypop

What does it take to change the world? What does it take to change self? What does it take to make others change?  These questions seem completely different. Aren’t they? At first they might. But not after reading the book Influencer: The Power to Change Anything.

In the book  I learned practical and simple pattern of making change, be it little or global.

Change - The Master Plan

The authors of the book offer simple scheme for making change happen:

	Motivation	Ability
Personal	Make the undesirable desirable	Surpass your limits
Social	Harness peers pressure	Find strength in number
Structural	Design rewards and accountability	Change the Environment

I like the breakdown and it seems very reasonable and common sense to me.  Here is my interpretation of this scheme:

• Personal: Want to surpass your limits? – Make the undesirable desirable
• Social: Want to multiply your strength? – Harness peers peers pressure.
• Structural: Want to make the change? – design reward and accountability.

Sounds good to me, the question is How?

J.D. helped me with his distillation from the book and related training:

• Six Sources of Influence
• Influencer Training Day 1.
• Influencer Training Day 2.

Make My Teammates Want Blogging Plan

Publishing on corporate blog should help market our services we sell. As a consultant I have sympathy to this, nothing more. I am technical consultant – not a marketing guy. So in fact I do not really care about it. If marketing guys suck then fire them and hire better ones, right? No!

On other hand blogging became a serious marketing weapon lately. It’s power lays in offering value, not marketing high level stuff. It’s hard for me to imagine a marketing guy blogs about how to solve specific problem – something consultant lives and breathes. Are we in the dead end? Not sure.

How do you motivate a consultant to start blogging? WIIFM [What’s In It For Me], right? What’s in corporate blogging for a consultant? Nothing, unless it helps him grow personally. And if it helps him grow personally efficiently he is hooked, right?

My plan is simple - motivate consultant to surpass his limits by helping him to unleash a blogger inside. If I help a consultant to deal efficiently with the following issues I think there is a chance.

• How to find time for blogging?
• How to quickly find the topic to blog about
• How to quickly write the post?
• How to quickly weed out less important stuff and leave only the meat?
• How to write scannable posts that people like reading/scanning/bookmarking?
• How to enjoy from blogging?

What’s your take?

Practice This - Get Results

• Connect on personal level, identify WIIFM – motivate, do not dictate
• Offer value – it’s the currency of Influence Without Authority
• Share efficient techniques – everyone loves getting more with less.

My Related Posts

• Single Step Toward A Journey Of Thousand Blog Posts
• Check Point For Aspiring Blogger
• From Part Time Aspiring Blogger To Marketing Top Gun
• From Flash Fiction To Flash Blogging

by LollyKnit

Before starting your next consulting gig ask yourself – “What’re are the minimum conditions to make this one successful?”

I ask that question myself anytime I get a new assignment. Lately I found simple and practical answer to it in the book Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used where Peter Block suggest that critical conditions for successful consulting gigs are Valid Data, Free and Open Decision Choice, and Internal Commitment.

Think to hire a consultant? Preparing to a new consulting engagement? Consultant or not, want your next gig be a success? Make sure these conditions are met.

Valid Data

Peter Block writes:

Problem Solving Requires Valid Data.

That might sound like wisdom of obvious but it is not obvious at all. Gathering valid information is crucial first step. Many customers are eager to spit out everything on you during the first meeting – the problem, the root cause, and the solution to it. All these are good raw materials for consultant to build the strategy. It also helps asking better questions, laser sharp questions, context precision questions. Making assumptions on the raw materials, without making reality check, would be a mistake resulting in time loss and potentially in trust and brand damage.

Free and Open Choice

Peter Block writes:

Effective Decision Making Requires Free and Open Choice.

The way I implement it is by offering my customers make their own decision based on clear criteria – the impact. This is very simple and effective practice I learned. This is how it works:

• Set objectives and expectations.
• Collect the data. Get into the context of the problem by asking precision questions.
• Validate the data and the assumptions.
• Build a list of issues – the issue, the impact, the recommendation to fix it.
• Done, hand it to the customer.

The customer can freely pick and prioritize the issues based on the impact and then freely decide whether to proceed with the recommendation to fix it.

Consultant’s responsibility is not only identifying the issues but also presenting it the way the customer can freely pick most impactful. Only the customer can decide what has higher impact and what’s less. Impact is in the eye of the beholder. If the customer asks you “what’s most important?” then answer him by asking “what’s most impactful for you? Pick three from the list I gave you.”

Internal Commitment

Peter Block writes:

Effective Implementation Requires Internal Commitment.

This one might sound weird, but it is not – it is painful truth distilled from the consulting battlefield. There are situations when the customer believes once the consultant is engaged everything will flow smoothly. Or there are cases where consultant faces antagonism. In any way, there is very little chance, if any, for consultant to produce something significant if there is lack of commitment from the customer side. That is why during first meeting I state what internal roles or resources I will be needing to produce expected results. I also state that failure to make these resources available will lead to no results. Make sure to communicate the prerequisites to the stakeholders and get formal commitment for it.

Practice This - Get Results

• Validate collected data – save time and defend your brand
• Offer choice – do not make it hard for the customer to use your advices
• Turn chickens into pigs, make them committed and not just involved – get better results with the help from the customer

My Related Posts

• Is Your Project Going To Fail?
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by notsogoodphotography

This post is a final part of series of posts Powerful Consulting - #1, Powerful Consulting - #2, Powerful Consulting - #3, and Powerful Consulting - #4 where I tried to put The 48 Laws of Power, a book by Robert Greene, into Consulting practice.

This post runs through the laws #41 to #48. It has original laws and my own interpretations that seemed to me more proper fit for Consulting practice.

Consultant or not, read on.

Law #41: Avoid Stepping Into A Great Man’s Shoes

Greene writes:

What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them. Do not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your won making: Establish your own name and identity by changing course. Slay the overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in your own way.

My interpretation of law #41: No interpretation. Adopted as is.

Creating a brand is hard, changing it is even harder. It is third time I reinvent myself professionally so I know it first hand. What helped me establishing myself and getting my own shoes is applying few principles I followed each time. The principles are:

• Say goodbye to your previous brand, tell others you are out of that business. Say so to yourself too.
• Focus solely on the new thing.
• Get a mentor, the best one you can get.
• Connect with the community - internal and external.
• Market your new you internally and externally (in person, conventions, blog, and other channels).
• Deepen the skills – much deeper than the average.
• Standardize the techniques – be fast performer, customers love time savers.

Further reading.

• Grow Quality - Not Quantity
• 3 Simple Rules To Become The World’s Greatest Brand [Plus Self Check]

Law #42: Strike The Shepherd And The Sheep Will Scatter

Greene writes:

Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual – the stirrer, the arrogant underling, the poisoner of goodwill. If you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them – they are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter.

My interpretation of law #42: Find The Root Cause.

Do not waste your time explaining best practices and proving your are right. Find the root cause for whatever you are involved with. Most of the time it is not even technical problem but human problem.

"No Matter how it looks at first, it’s always a people problem." - Gerald M. Weinberg’ in his Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully

Find that guy and try to feel his pain. Only then offer the solution. Further reading.

• Three Laws Of Consulting By Gerald M. Weinberg
• Two Crucial Lessons Every Consultant Must Learn First

Law #43: Work On The Hearts And Minds Of Others

Greene writes:

Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn, And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear, Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.

My interpretation of law #43: Win The Heart, The Mind Will Follow

I adopted it from J.D.’s Win the Heart, the Mind Follows. I have recently finished reading a book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins. One of the biggest takeaways from the book was that the author fosters the idea of people-first approach. Gather the great team of great people then state the vision and not the other way around. Further reading.

• Creatures Of Logic And Creatures Of Emotion
• Experience Is The Most Valuable Product

Law #44: Disarm And Infuriate With The Mirror Effect

Greene writes:

The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can resist the power of the Mirror Effect.

My interpretation of law #44: Lead By Asking A Better Questions

Consultant is a natural target to ask him numerous questions. That is perfectly OK, but at some point the questions turn into distraction or even into a real blocker that prevents fruitful work. Such questions can come either from procrastinators that flood you with purposeless questions just to kill time or from your enemies that are less than happy you are here and helping. Defend yourself by asking question back. Procrastinators should get busy by trying to find the answers while leaving you alone, your enemies would respect you as superior opponent. Further reading.

• What’s The Powerful Skill Of All? Is It Asking The Right Questions?
• Consultants, Beware Of Procrastinators, Disengaged, And Distracters! 

Law #45: Preach The Need For Change, But Never Reform Too Much At Once

Greene writes:

Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day-to-day level people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is traumatic and will lead to revolt. If you are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build a power base, make a show of respecting the old way of doing things. If change is necessary make it feel like a gentle improvement on the past.

My interpretation of law #45: Improve a Little Daily, It’ll Build Up A Huge Improvement Annually

I believe it boils down to 3 keys – goal, plan, execution. If you want to achieve something - that is the goal. It is OK to set “impossible” goals, call it challenging or aggressive goals. Do not discard it right away, try to build the plan – the milestones and action items (WBS – work breakdown structure). Does it seem doable on the paper? If so, go ahead and just execute it against the plan. If it works and you hit your milestones - keep sticking to your plan, if not – change your plan. The trick is not getting too far with failing plan during the execution – fail fast. Further reading.

• Free eBook: Effective Time Management With MS Outlook 2007
• Plan Ahead Or Plan Your Back Up Plan 

Law #46: Never Appear Too Perfect

Greene writes:

Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies. It is  smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to  vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.

My interpretation of law #46: Be Yourself

And that is it. Do not run the streets bragging about your strengths or weaknesses. Just do what you know to do best and constantly improve, then improve some more. Say No to what you do not know how to do when asked. If you must do it – set proper expectations upfront, if you mustn’t – turn it down, “Sorry, I am not in the know, but I know the guy who perfectly suits the job.” Further reading.

• The Power Of Saying “No”
• Grow Quality - Not Quantity 

Law #47: Do Not Go Past The Mark You Aimed For: In Victory, Learn When To Stop

Greene writes:

The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat, Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.

My interpretation of law #47: No interpretation. Adopted as is

Hitting the mark, reaching the goal is a great satisfaction. Many efforts and time were invested to reach it. Stop. Celebrate it. Review. Set another challenging goal, plan, and execute. Further reading.

• 3 Easy Steps To Become A Superhero
• Plan, Execute, And Celebrate

Law #48: Assume Formlessness

Greene writes:

By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as a water: never bet on stability or lasting order, Everything changes.

My interpretation of law #48: No interpretation. Adopted as is

Let Brice Lee stress the point:

Empty your mind; be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

My Related Posts

• Powerful Consulting - #1
• Powerful Consulting - #2
• Powerful Consulting - #3
• Powerful Consulting - #4

What’s you answer?

I know your answer – your answer is you. You are the answer to all my questions.

The answer is Strength
You have been outstanding sportsman, you had a perfect athlete body. You could stand on your hands easily. You always supported me when I was training and you always came to my competitions.

The answer is Will Power
Your will power got you interesting and challenging jobs. Your will power got you a beautiful wife – because you wanted. You wanted to climb Kavkaz mountains – so you did even when it was not the safest there - because you wanted.

The answer is Friendship
You were a friend, a comrade. You always offered your shoulder to everyone – even to those who didn’t really deserve it.

The answer is Coolness
I have never heard you complaining – you were biting your tongue and just doing it, even the hardest thing. Complaints and excuses were out of your lexicon.

The answer is Laugh
Your wide smile was filling my body with joy, you knew how to laugh and you knew how to make others laugh. You always had a little joke in your pocket that made me always smile.

The answer is Do It Yourself
You could do everything on your own – solve math exercise or fix a car. You could do a million more things – anywhere I look I see a touch of your hands.

The answer is Warm Heart
You had a special place in your heart for everyone. A special warm and soft place. You were a heat engine bigger than a power station.

The answer is Life Smarts
You were departed with your family during World War II, moved to new school each year and got beaten as a new kid on the block. You worked in anti-Semitic atmosphere. You left everything you have built for years and repatriated to Promised Land. You learned a lot of life smarts and you tried to teach me these life lessons in very simple way – so that it’d be easy for me to learn.

The answer is Simplicity
You wore simple clothes, you ate simple food, you lived simple life, you gave simple solutions that worked, you talked simple language that I could easily understand. I have learned that simplicity works, and it works fast. Simplicity is the way to results.

The answer is Help
You helped to everyone. You helped just because you could and because you thought this is the right thing to do.

The answer is Children
You always gave up on yourself in favor of children and grandchildren. Kids were in the center for you. You were the family’s kids spoiler.

The answer is Respect
You had a great self respect. You have never gave in to temptations and you always were sticking to your personal principles – something you honored as the way of life.

The answer is Knowledge
You were a huge source of knowledge and insight. You learned unstoppably and you taught others unstoppably. Learning and teaching were in your blood. You are the Levites tribe son, isn’t it? You were building computer presentations until the last day, then you were sending it to me and others just to please. Papa, I am keeping each and every email you have sent me.

The answer is Personal Resilience
You have taught me to give up in sake of something bigger and more important. You have taught me to be smart vs. be right – that requires a lot of resilience.

The answer is Dream
You were the biggest dreamer I have ever seen. I can remember you once wanted to establish a friendship connections between our town and a town in China. You had fantasies beyond my imaginations.

The answer is Creativity
You had a solution to any problem. Your creativity never allowed you be another way. You had a bolt, a tool, or a brilliant idea to any situation.

The answer is Faith
Faith was the source of your power. You believed in yourself, you believed in family, you believed in good. You always gave me a belief.

The answer is Love
You gave so much love to others. Many of them you will meet in heaven. If all those who got your love could overcome the barrier of time and space, if they could stand here today it’d be the whole army that came to say thank you to your love you gave.

The answer is Life
You loved life so much. You gave life to me and my sister, and that means you gave life to our kids too. You wanted to live some more since you had so much more to give. You live in us, we will continue doing good deeds you taught us, just as you have asked me back at my wedding.

Goodbye, Papa, I love you.

by altemark

This post is a continuation to Powerful Consulting - #1, Powerful Consulting - #2, and Powerful Consulting - #3 where I tried to put The 48 Laws of Power, a book by Robert Greene, into Consulting practice.

This post runs through the laws #31 to #40. It has original laws and my own interpretations that seemed to me more proper fit for Consulting practice.

Consultant or not, read on.

Law #31: Control The Options: Get Others To Play With The Cards You Deal

Greene writes:

The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other persona a choice: Your victims are but are actually your puppets. Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose.

My interpretation of law #31: Control The Options

it is not really important who deals the cards, more important what cards have been dealt. Consultant’s role is making sure only significant cards stay in the game. Once someone tries getting another deck in – ring the bells, raise the flag, pause the game. Further reading.

• Consultant “Kills” With A Borrowed Knife
• Consultant Besieges Wèi To Rescue Zhào
• Consultant Deceive The Heavens To Cross The Ocean. And Wins.

Law #32: Play To People’s Fantasies

Greene writes:

The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes from disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the dessert. Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses.

My interpretation of law #32: Sell Vision

Consulting has a lot to do with influence without authority. I found that story telling is a crucial skill. It helps creating a vision and it helps getting people onboard. Once the vision created and everyone is onboard it is much easier to keep on track – just remind the story you have been telling. Further reading.

• From Flash Fiction To Flash Blogging
• Practice This - Values, Mission, Vision

Law #33: Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew

Greene writes:

Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usually an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage.

My interpretation of law #33: Find Real Pain, Offer Cure

Consultant is a change agent. He is called to make a change. Change from bad to good, from good to great. Seek for a real problem, look for a real pain, offer significant improvement. Further reading.

• Ask Your Customers’ Friends - Your Growth Hides There
• 3 Things Customers Really Want

Law #34: Be Royal In You Own Fashion: Act Like A King To Be Treated Like One

Greene writes:

The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated: In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to weak a crown.

My interpretation of law #34: Be a Consultant, not a Lackey

Consulting is about solving tough problems. It is not about doing anything a customer wants. Stay on guard for your brand – build it, strengthen it, grow it. Resist the temptation to become a jack of all trades – this is what will ruin your brand. Customers love narrow brands. Further reading.

• 3 Simple Rules To Become The World’s Greatest Brand [Plus Self Check]
• Grow Quality - Not Quantity

Law #35: Master The Art Of Timing

Greene writes:

Never seem to be in a hurry – hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to your eventually. Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry your to power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.

My interpretation of law #35: No Interpretation. Adopted as is.

Timing is king. Move in very fast when it’s time. Stay unseen when time is less than appropriate. Examples of bad timing could be organizational change, major incident, dead line collisions. Try be not become a victim of circumstances. Further reading.

• Time Is Not Money. Time Is Budget.
• Consultant Substitutes Leisure For Labour

Law #36: Disdain Things You Cannot Have: Ignoring Then Is The Best Revenge

Greene writes:

By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem.

My interpretation of law #36: Focus on stuff that matters

Stuff that matters is your ultimate goal – your personal wants and needs, your customers desires, and your management requirements. You say NO to all the rest. Focusing only on stuff that matters helps you getting significant results. That’s fulfilling. Further reading.

• The Power Of Saying “No”

Law #37: Create Compelling Spectacles

Greene writes:

Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power – everyone responds to them, Stage spectacles for those around you, then, full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing.

My interpretation of law #37: Master Performing Skills

Making others using your skills is part art and part science. The Art part can be learned too. One crucial skill is performing or just public speaking. Consultant must know how to present dry results he achieved in very appealing manner to both high rank managers and to those with grease under their nails. Further reading.

• Dale Carnegie’s Recipe For Effective Public Speaking
• Basic Skills For Effective Public Speaking
• Consultant Speaks Language Everyone Understands

Law #38: Think As You Like But Behave Like Others

Greene writes:

If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you only want attention and that you look down upon them The will find a way to punish you for making them feel inferior. It is far safer to blend in and nurture the common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant friends and those who are sure to appreciate your uniqueness.

My interpretation of law #38: Add Weirdness, But Not Too Much

Being yourself is key. That’s your brand. What consultant brings in is his experience – the most valuable product, stuff that matters. The other side of the story is a human touch. Consultant’s personal brand is built of the two – the experience and the human touch. Add a little human weirdness, but not too much – you do not want your customer flipping a bozo bit on you. Further reading.

• Best Kept Secret Of Successful Consulting - Model The Best
• Experience Is The Most Valuable Product

Law #39: Stir Up Waters To Catch Fish

Greene writes:

Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always stay calm and objective, But if you can make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself, you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies off-balance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you hold the strings.

My interpretation of law #39: Practice EQ (Emotional Intelligence)

Emotions are your enemy. One impulsive word could ruin all that you have been building for so long. Practice emotional intelligence. Start with simple “Park” technique. It will surely keep you out of trouble. There are way too many tough customers and bosses. Kids sometimes drive you crazy even more. It works perfectly with wives too. Further reading.

• Emotional Intelligence - Core Skills
• Emotional Intelligence - Higher Order Skills

Law #40: Despise The Free Lunch

Greene writes:

What is offered for free is dangerous – it is usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation, What has worth is worth paying for. By Paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full price – there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sigh and a magnet for powers.

My interpretation of law #40: There are no free lunches

Nothing is free.

“Everything counts in large amounts.” – Depeche Mode.

There are exceptions though like love, trust, health, and time. These things are free. Ironically no money can buy it. So once you have it – stay on guard and do not let it slip away from you. All the rest can be bought. So buy it yourself. Further reading.

• 3 Most Precious Things In The World Are Free

My Related Posts

• Powerful Consulting - #1
• Powerful Consulting - #2
• Powerful Consulting - #3