The Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully (Consulting Secrets Book 1)

Romer's Rule says that the biggest and longest lasting changes usually originate in attempts to preserve the very thing that ultimately changes most. Consultants can use Romer's Rule to advantage when trying to change a large system,

To quote Will Rogers again, "It ain't what we don't know that gets us in trouble, it's what we know that ain't so." I think Rogers was on to something big.

THE PRINCIPLE OF LEAST REGRET: THE NINTH LAW OF PRICING Through discussions with Judy, I arrived at the principle by which I now set all fees in new situations. I call this Ninth Law of Pricing my Principle of Least Regret: Set the price so you won't regret it either way. When I set a fee, there are two possibilities: One is that the client will ac

The Seventh Law of Trust: Never be dishonest, even if the client requests it. If you turn down such a request, the client may remember you as uncooperative. But if you give in to a request for dishonesty, you'll always be remembered as a cheat. There's no better way to lose trust than to show you can only be trusted when nothing important is at sta

As Arnold crept slowly into the position of having fewer and fewer clients, each client became more critical. When one asked him for more of his time, he knew he should refuse, but he was afraid to lose that client's business altogether. Any time you're afraid to say no to your client, you lose your effectiveness as a consultant. You also lose the

The Second Law of Trust: Trust takes years to win, moments to lose.

The Fast-Food Fallacy In order for The Fast-Food Fallacy to be valid, we need two logical conditions: First, we must have repetition (providing some standard product or service a large number of times); and second, we must have centralization (accounting for the cost of providing the standard product or service). Because of the repetition, a small

The Weinberg Test asks, Would you place your own life in the hands of this system? Not all systems need such a severe test, so I have constructed weaker versions of The Weinberg Test, such as, Would you risk your right arm? Would you risk your left hand? Would you risk your life's savings? Would you risk a month's salary? Would you risk $10 of your

PROTECTION AND THE SIXTH LAW OF TRUST I always believe that my clients are telling me the truth—as they see it, and as they think it would help me to hear it. I trust the clients' integrity, but I don't have to trust their ability. In other words, The Sixth Law of Trust is based on The Dealer's Choice: Always trust your client—and cut the cards.

FEATURING FAILURE Once upon a time, a man went to Levine the Tailor because he heard that he could get a cheap, custom-made suit. When the suit was finished and he went to try it on, it didn't fit him at all. "Look," he said, "the jacket is much too big in back." "No problem," replied Levine, showing him how to hunch h