Consulting Philosophy

I’m at the National Speakers Association convention in San Diego. After arriving four hours late last night, I decided I’d better be there this morning for the opening general session. As the lights dimmed, we were greeted by a woman who

One day I’m sitting in a large manufacturing organization—Fortune 100—waiting to see a colleague about some work we’re doing for a non-profit board. I was sitting in an area of open cubicles, where you could readily see what was going

I’m flying to San Diego, first class, on USAir. Except it’s not USAir, it’s a United airplane, because they are “code sharing.” That means that two airlines are working to fill one plane to the brim, which they have. (It

If you consult with small business owners, good luck. Usually, you won’t have to leave the owner’s office. Small business owners are their own worst enemy, because they understand the CONTENT of their endeavor, but not the PROCESS of acquiring business. There

A woman named “Mary Leo” has been writing me for two weeks trying to order 200 copies of Million Dollar Consulting. She used no signature file, poor English, and didn’t respond to rudimentary requests from me. I told her that

We are inculcated from our youth to engage in destructive testing. That is, we strive to prove why something won’t work and why it’s a bad idea. A succession of overworked parents, uninterested teachers, aloof professors, and insecure bosses forms

I believe people are free to believe in God or not believe in God in myriad ways. What confounds me is the religious zealotry of some of the athiests, however, which I find just a tad hypocritical. (I refer you

As consultants, we should be observing the environment for best and worst practices, right? If you’re in this profession long enough, some ineluctable trends begin to emerge. We have to put the dead rat on the table (as my friends

RFPs (Requests for Proposals) are among the dumbest mechanisms (amidst the general stupidity of bureaucracies) for procuring consulting services. Designed to “safeguard” an objective process, they instead use the lowest common denominators, overwhelmingly focus on price and not value, and

A participant in the most recent Million Dollar Consulting™ College asked me what I have seen most often in my OD consulting work. This was in response to my statement that I had reduced that work because I was getting