Gerry Weinberg’s Secrets of Consulting is a well-recognized classic for anyone helping organizations and people. It is a delightfully written treasure trove of tips, tricks, and hard-won wisdom. My goal is to draw a mind-map of each book that I read, however, this book is too filled with gems of knowledge to compress into a single page.
What I have in today’s post is a series of mind-maps that cherry-pick the best bits. I include a lot of quotations from the book together with page numbers, so these may be used as a reading guide. (I’ll let you in on a secret: it’s actually for me to be able to look up the good bits quickly).
Consider your attitude as a Coach or Consultant
Client Relationship is Built on Trust
Understand You Client
Change is Harder than you Think
Coach the System and Beware the Fate of Consultants
Reality Check to Avoid Problems
Give away your Best Ideas and How to Price your Services
Hidden Agenda Game
Ironically, the one item that didn’t fit with any of the others is the Hidden Agenda Game (p.116). It is a simulation that helps people start seeing other people’s behaviours and intentions.
