More Secrets of Consulting: The Consultant's Tool Kit

More secrets of consulting offers a portable toolkit for the working consultant. The approaches and viewpoints of consulting that Jerry teaches can be ported around along with the person and can go into building a personalized toolkit. Some of these techniques have very much become a part of my toolbox, becoming more effective every time I use it.There aren't too many authors or books out there who are tackling the difficult inner game of consulting. Technical advice such as creating effective presentations are easy to put down on paper, but areas such as how a consultant tackles fear, how a consultant can tackle conflicting agenda's on the client side, effective negotiation, these are all the thorny topics that Jerry tackles with his "More secrets of consulting". I found the book unique and powerful because of that.I initially thought this was "part 2" of Jerry's earlier book "Secrets of consulting" but this is a standalone book with tools etc that don't overlap, nor require the earlier book. In a way, this book is more condensed and in a more "how to guide" format than the earlier book, I enjoyed reading this book first followed by the Secrets of consulting.Jerry has a unique voice and uses parables and stories to bring the point across, this allows him to speak with authority and get across, valuable advice on the areas not usually explored in other books including interpersonal skills and qualities such as courage and the ability to deal with conflicting motivations at the client end and on our end.I would highly recommend this book for any working consultant who wants material beyond the tactics of "how to put together a presentation" or data analysis. It does requires a couple of readings of the book to parse through the meaning and interpret it in context - in this way, Jerry's exercises and approach to consulting are not really easy. Effective, very effective, but requires the consultant to put in his time and effort to master them.

Way back in the 1980s, when I was a new computer consultant, Jerry Weinberg's _Secrets of Consulting_ changed my life. He helped me get my head screwed on straight on anything to do with business, and I lost count of the number of times I applied the Orange Juice Rule. I was lucky enough to learn from his advice before I made too many mistakes... and I was even more lucky to meet him on a few memorable occasions. Weinberg was among the wisest humans I ever encountered, and his observational skills were exceeded only by his wit and compassion.So it's a bit odd that it's taken me this long to get around to buying the sequel, and even stranger that it took me a while to get around to reading it. I'm glad I did -- and I think you should, too -- but not with quite the same urgency as I recommend the other book.The Consultant's Tool Kit isn't so much a "sit down and read" book where you begin on page 1 and keep going until you reach the end. I found it far more valuable to read it in short bursts, one chapter at a time -- or even a few pages at a time. That's because Weinberg's advice is less cookie-cutter recipes (do this, in this order) than "How to think about problems." Read a bit, think, go back for more.To separate the processes that consultants need to go through, Weinberg presents the attributes and behavior in terms of "tools" that you might include in a tool box. For instance, the "detective hat" represents the ways to discover the source of a problem based on data collected, and the "magnifying glass" represents the ability to examine that data. It's sometimes a little clunky, but eventually I got into it. More comfortably, Weinberg shares lots of examples -- he was a great storyteller -- and uses those anecdotes (and conversations about them) to explain the important takeaway.He's also extremely clear about those takeaways, with handy "rules" you can put to work. For example: "If you can't understand where the [clients'] questions are coming from, they're probably coming from an agenda someone doesn't want you to know about" and "If someone requires you to die trying to help them, you don't want to help them."This isn't as life-changing a book as the previous one. But if you spend any time in an advisory capacity, it's still worth your time.

On a superficial level, one might say that this book is more about the principles of self-esteem than more "tips and tricks" on giving advice / being a consultant. However, after I thought about this for a while, I would have to agree with Mr. Weinberg that the principles of self-esteem really are the secret to being a good advice giver. This wasn't exactly what I was expecting in this book, but it doesn't diminish the importance or power of the material. Just buy this book and improve your life. I add Mr. Weinberg to a short list of those authors and persons in my life that have made me a better person and provided some direction to the chaos of the universe. That may sound overly dramatic, but for me it's true. Thanks, Gerald!

This book is much better than the original "Secrets of Consulting". The original was released quite a while ago (re-released in paperback last year). You can tell that the author has learned a lot in the meantime, and is better at presenting it. I would have given the original three stars, maybe four. This book I give five stars. Some of my bias may be that this book is more at the level of my current software consulting experience. Some of the topics (e.g., burnout) are sorely needed right now! It is good to see good books at good prices again. If you are a consultant, at least give this title a try.