Greg Baker, on February 15, 2022
Using science to move work forward and drive change is at the heart of the Consulgetics approach. It addresses two of the biggest challenges consultants face. How do we know what those are?
Whenever we deliver our consultant development workshops we ask the participants to list the biggest challenges in their daily work. Two things always make the list. First, they say they have trouble moving work forward. Progress stalls when clients don’t do what they’re supposed to do for the project, when needed resources aren’t available, or when obstacles get in the way. Second, they tell us that driving change in their client organizations, and their own, is difficult and, at times, seems impossible. For example, systems are implemented but people don’t fully adopt them, new processes are defined but people are more comfortable with the old way, or a faction of resisters has formed to undermine the whole effort.
If we could just solve these two problems, they say, life as a consultant would be so much better! And you know what? They’re right! Solving these problems is arguably a holy grail of consulting. But how do we do it?
First, we need to recognize that the way we’ve been approaching these problems simply isn’t working well. Then we need to find and adopt the new approaches that will give consultants the power and ability to meet these universal challenges. This article will give you a window into those approaches and a path to the details of using science to move work forward and drive change. Let’s take the challenges one at a time.
Greg Baker, on July 31, 2015
What’s that you say? Your organization has “communication problems”? I’ve heard that one before. It’s almost as common as “A guy walks into a bar…”, but not as funny. If there is a funny part it is that people often speak with apparent authority about “communication problems” without understanding what causes them at the root. Consequently, when we don’t understand problems at their root, we can never solve them. This article drills in on five top causes of business communication problems. It helps expose communication problems as mostly symptoms, not core problems.
Greg Baker, on March 19, 2014
There are seven critical elements you need to consider when planning your Consultant Development Program if you want to truly enhance the level and type of service your professional service employees provide to their clients. We refer to these elements as The Seven Pillars. Together they make up, and hold up, a complete approach to building effective consulting organizations.
Greg Baker, on June 1, 2012
This article and its related blog series is about managing unintentional conflict in business, and the dramatic benefits of doing so. But why unintentional conflict? It turns out that most conflict in business is unintentional. Yes, there are those who intentionally pick fights, damage the reputations of others, stir up controversy, and otherwise operate in a self-serving manner at the expense of others. However, in our businesses, if you take away all of that intentional conflict you are still left with a majority of the conflict.
How can that be? Most folks in business seem like decent people. If you get rid of the “bad eggs” how could there still be that much conflict? The truth is that most businesses and those of us in them create unintentional conflict – some more than others. A certain amount of this is inevitable. After all, we are not perfect. However, as I will discuss in this article, there is much that can be done to see and avoid creating unintentional conflict.
Greg Baker, on October 5, 2007
Last month we talked about the nature of customer focused leadership and organizations. But how do you know if you have a customer focused organization? How do you build one? This month I want to share a consultant’s secret for understanding and building customer focused organizations.
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