Organizational
Consulting
Also by Alan Weiss
THE ULTIMATE CONSULTANT SERIES
Life Balance: How to Convert Professional Success to Personal Happiness
Great Consulting Challenges and How to Resolve Them
Process Consulting: How to Launch, Implement, and Conclude Successful
Consulting Projects
How to Acquire Clients
Value-Based Fees: How to Charge for Your Value and Get What You’re
Worth
How to Establish A Unique Brand in the Consulting Profession
The Ultimate Consultant
O
THER BOOKS
How to Sell New Business and Expand Existing Business in Professional
Service Firms
Getting Started in Consulting
The Unofficial Guide to Power Management
How to Market, Brand, and Sell Professional Services
The Great Big Book of Process Visuals
Good Enough Isn’t Enough
How to Write a Proposal That’s Accepted Every Time
Money Talks
Our Emperors Have No Clothes
Million Dollar Consulting
Best Laid Plans
Managing for Peak Performance
The Innovation Formula (with Mike Robert)

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Weiss, Alan, 1946–
Organizational consulting : how to be an effective internal change agent / Alan Weiss.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-471-26378-8 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Business consultants. 2. Organizational change. 3. Organizational effectiveness. I.
Title.
HD69.C6 W462 2003
001'.068—dc21 2002026743
Printed in the United States of America.
10987654321
This is for all human resources people who have opposed silly
management policies, exposed illegal and unethical conduct, and
who are unafraid to speak their minds—corporate politics and
powerful executives notwithstanding. In other words, it’s for those
who have fought the good fight. You know who you are.

M
y thanks to my editor at Wiley, Michael Hamilton, who
makes it so easy that I should be paying him. Unfortunately

ix
Useful Experience 56
Intellectual Armament 58
Suggested Reading 62
PART TWO: THE INTERACTIONS 63
Chapter 4
The Role of Conceptual Agreement
The Absolutely Best Way to Establish a
Win/Win Project 65
Relationship Building 65
Trust 69
Objectives, Measures, and Value 73
Pushing Back 78
Suggested Reading 83
Chapter 5
Formulating the Proposal
How to Ensure that You and the Buyer Meet Each
Other’s Expectations 85
Summations, Not Explorations: The Nine Steps to
Irresistible Proposals 85
Providing Value-Based Options 90
Establishing Joint Accountabilities 94
Avoiding Scope Creep 98
Suggested Reading 103
Chapter 6
The Value Proposition
Why Every Client Knows What’s Wanted but Not
Necessarily What’s Needed 105
The Difference between “Fix” and “Improve” 105
The Difference between Input and Output 110

Blowing Your Own Horn 187
Suggested Reading 192
Contents
xi
PART FOUR: THE AFTERMATH 193
Chapter 10
Assessing Value
How to Follow-Up and Leverage Your Success 195
Developing Your Skills 195
Developing Other Buyers 199
Creating a “Brand” 203
Marketing “Gravity” 208
Suggested Reading 214
Chapter 11
The Ethical Quandaries
When to Put Up, Shut Up, and Give Up 215
The Ethical Template 215
Blowing the Whistle 221
Living to Fight Another Day 226
When It’s Time to Go 231
Suggested Reading 235
More Suggested Readings 237
Index 241
About the Author 256
CONTENTS
xii
T
his is the first book I’ve written (of more than 20) focused
solely on internal consulting. There are two reasons for that.
First, the publisher asked me to do it. Second, as an indepen-

you, and every consulting project has rough edges and setbacks. There
is no such thing as a flawless consultant or perfect consulting, at least
not in this world. Our lives are about success, not perfection. I’ve chosen
to reference my own works where relevant in the footnotes, but every
chapter will conclude with suggested reading by another author whose
work I deem appropriate, supportive, and enriching for the subjects
discussed (with the rare exception of when one of my books has no
peer on that subject). Think of them as the wine selections the captain
offers with your meal.
The only things that matter are results. I’m confident that you can
improve your ability to generate dramatic results immediately if you
simply utilize the techniques in this book that appeal to you and apply
to your environment. In that case, we’ve both done our jobs.
—Alan Weiss, Ph.D.
East Greenwich, RI
October 2002
INTRODUCTION
xiv
Organizational
Consulting

PART ONE
THE ENVIRONMENT

1
If It Walks Like a Duck
What Constitutes an
Effective Internal Consultant?
THE ROLE OF A CONSULTANT
I

velop trusting relationships with internal partners and clients. To me,
trust means that both parties have the underlying conviction that the
other person has the partner’s absolute best interests in mind. If I believe
that about you, then I’m much more likely to listen to unprecedented,
painful, and/or counterintuitive advice. I’ll give you the benefit of the
doubt (as you will extend that to me).
One of the key problems in internal consulting is a lack of trust.
We address this as we progress, but we all know that a lack of credibil-
ity attached to a department or function also attaches itself to individu-
als representing that department or function. When that’s the case, it’s
far easier to build individual trust and credibility than it is to change
an entire department’s reputation. When enough individuals have
made the change, the department will benefit. But functions do not
change perceptions; people do. Departments don’t earn trust; individu-
als do.
The role of an internal consultant should place an emphasis on
anticipation, improvement, and innovation. There has been an inordi-
IF IT WALKS LIKE A DUCK
4
Consultants are basically advisors to management who must
provide objective, pragmatic, and honest advice to their
clients. If there is a trusting relationship, then the clients will
always be confident that their best interests are being served,
no matter how threatening, contrarian, or painful that advice
may be.
nate concentration on problem solving. While always important, prob-
lem solving has become a fairly mechanized routine and therefore of
less value, despite its frequency. Problem solving basically restores per-
formance to past levels.
But innovation raises the bar and is of much higher value. Since

gap between yourself and the next closest competitor is invaluable.
As a rule, internal consultants have been far too reactive and not
nearly proactive enough. Figure 1.1 illustrates the difference between
problem solving and innovation.
Finally, an important part of the role is to disagree. We’re often
swept along in the fervor of an executive’s bright idea, but no one has
had the fortitude to point out that no one is wearing any clothes. Out-
standing (and trustworthy) consultants push back. They consider le-
gality, ethics, pragmatics, risks, and costs to other parties. They don’t
blindly implement.
We have an excellent plumber. He arrives on time, fixes the leaks,
and charges according to his efforts. But we would never ask him to
come in and discuss the way the kitchen is decorated or the location of
the bathrooms.
IF IT WALKS LIKE A DUCK
6
fix
decline
alarms
standard performance
improved performance
innovation
manager’s
initiative
standard performance
FIGURE 1.1 Problem solving vs. innovation
We need plumbers to fix the leaks. But I don’t think anyone read-
ing this sees his or her future mending the corporate pipes.
THE KEY PLAYERS
The most important person in the consultant’s universe is the economic