Humble Consulting: How to Provide Real Help Faster

Humble Consulting is a book that is part of the "humble" series of (may I say the great) Ed Schein which so far consists of Helping, Humble Inquiry, Humble Consulting, and Humble Leadership. Each one of these has been excellent but Humble Consulting, for me, was the best one so far. Ed Schein provides a very different perspective on consulting than the typical traditional contract-based plan-driven view that is very refreshing. Humble Consulting is a small book but it was full of ah-ha and ah-yes moments. I would strongly recommend it to anyone involved in consulting or coaching.The author, Ed Schein, is one of the founders of the "organization development" movement and the inventor of "process consultation." He has a decade-long career as a consultant and an academic. The Humble series of books feel a bit like the final conclusions of his very long career. That makes them very special, though, if you have read earlier books from Ed Schein then you will recognize the stories he shares as he does reuse them across his books.Humble Consulting starts with the assumption that as a consultant, you do not know the answer and you do not know the problem. What your client tells you are signals but are not necessarily the actual problem (if there is one!) that needs to be resolved. Hence, as a consultant, you'll need to stay humble and work together with your client to explore their interpretations of the problem, whether there is a problem, and how they can move forward.You need to work together closely with your client to truly help him and therefore it is important to first focus on relationship building with your client. The book defines three levels of relationships and the typical working relationship is referred to as level one relationships. In order to truly help your client, it is best to try to work towards a level two relationship where there is more trust which allows you to together explore the client situationsWith a level two relationship in place, it is important to stay humble and try to not assume that you together understand the situation and can 'just' plan for the solution. Instead, most situations are too complex for that and therefore a humble consultant will look for small "adaptive moves." Those are small actions to take that either resolve part of the problem or bring new information. After the adaptive move, you, the consultant, and the client together re-evaluate the new situation and think of the next move to take.Personally, I've been in the role of consultant for a long time and the more traditional view of consulting (analyze -> plan -> action) has always made me somewhat uncomfortable. It never really aligned with the focus on small iterations and maximizing the learning loops. Humble consulting resolved this discomfort and provided a perspective on consulting that is much more aligned to the organizational learning view of organizations. This is a book that I'm likely to read multiple times and recommend to many people. Loved it and deserves full five stars! And, thanks Edgar Schein for writing this book.

I studied under Prof. Schein's years ago at MIT and have been shaped by his work in process consultation and organizational culture.I purchased this book not expecting anything new and was quite wrong. The tone and emphasis of this book is extremely different than Schein's early works, and most consulting books. He humbly looks back at how he took the bait when clients asked for projects involving his expertise and he did not perform sufficient relationship building and testing for their readiness. I summarized for my colleagues many of the key points in the book. A couple are shown below. With its rich examples, this book is well worth reading.Trends in Organizations:• Problems are more complex, culturally multi-faceted AND constantly changing• Work groups engage people with increasingly diverse backgrounds and styles• Speed of change is much faster, as is the need for resultsAssociated Needs in Consulting: Needed more now than ever!• Client’s own view of what is going on... It must be surfaced and acknowledged• Relationship is critical - need openness, trust and candor• Spirit of inquiry is important, yet we can’t be seduced by just content and information• Need to do something adaptive right away to show valuable progress

Edgar Schein’s last book, Humble Inquiry, reviewed in this column, introduced the value of humility in engaging staff. The humility he is referring to, both in his earlier book and in this one, is not a perception of oneself as unworthy or inferior. On the contrary, it is a clear understanding of what you do in fact know; and even pride in that knowledge. Equally, it is a clear understanding, of what you do not know.The leader who is humble in this sense, is more likely to get more input from staff in their areas of expertise than the arrogant leader. Arrogance, in this context, is the belief that position confers an overarching expertise that none below this position possesses. When faced with this arrogance, staff learn fast that their opinions are not valued or even wanted, and so they refrain from ever offering them. This inevitably hurts the organization, and limits the effectiveness of the leader. Knowing how to talk so that staff listen, and how to listen so that staff talk, is a necessary leadership skill.In this book, which is best read in conjunction with Humble Inquiry, Professor Shein turns his attention to consulting, and the necessity of humility in this context. It is not only professional consultants who consult, but leaders play the consultant role to their colleagues and staff, more often than many are aware. As such, this book has wide application.Consulting today is significantly different from what it was in years past. The primary reason is that problems today are “messier”, Shein explains. Consider that technical fields have become more complex, and groups that interact are occupationally and culturally more diverse. Everything is faster and more urgent than it was a decade ago (or certainly appears to be!), making the environment in which we operate, more unstable. Add to this that an intervention produces unknown effects, requiring new skills to manage. As such, business problems do not have a technical solution.Consider coaching an executive and it will be apparent “that what worries her has implications for others in the organization, so that the problem formulation has to be systemic,” Shein explains. “Whatever adaptive moves are considered have to take into account the systemic consequences which, paradoxically, may be unknown.”In this changed context, Humble Consulting provides a very different way of relating to those who seek your counsel. It is predicated on the belief that you are committed to being helpful, that you have an honest curiosity about the client’s issue, and have a genuinely caring attitude. All three are necessary throughout the intervention, but never more so than at the beginning when finding out what is really on the client’s mind. Humble Consulting provides a better helping relationship for dealing with a complex, messy problem.Parenthetically, if your primary motivation is earning a fee or scoring political advantage, there is some serious introspection required before the benefits of Humble Consulting are possible.Since requesting help is perceived by many as being in a needy position relative to another, the quality of the relationship will either help or hinder the value you can provide.For a relationship to work, there must be a feeling of comfort with the other person, best based on knowing that both of you are working toward common goal. A staff member who believes her manager sees her requests for help as a normal part of their common aspiration, will be open to assistance. The alternative is risking failing at her work, in the attempt to protect her self-respect.‘Relationship’ is an interactive concept, and the consultant can adopt one of these postures.A Level One relationship, Shein explains, traditionally connotes helping in the role of the expert (such as a doctor,) who provides his expert diagnosis and prescription for the remedy while, above all, keeping a professional distance. “What rarely works, is the recommendation that the consultant has worked out on her own after a period of so-called data gathering,” Shein explains. This is why clients so often have the overwhelming sense that the ‘expert’s’ suggestion is so clearly flawed that someone who claims expertise, should know that.This type of expert prescription worked well, and probably still does in stable situations, with clear problems and clear solutions. “The first real help is my enabling them to see the true complexity and messiness of the problem situation, and help them to abandon quick fixes and/or knee-jerk reactions,” says Shein.A Level Two relationship is one that is more personal, more trusting and more open. With this presumption on the part of the consultant, his task is to help work things out together, not to take over the problem and run with it. “I call it Humble Consulting, because I am in awe of the complexity of the problems and of the difficulties that clients face, in trying to move forward,” Shein explains.The client and the consultant need to engage in a dialogue to identify a feasible move, knowing that this may not solve the problem, but will provide some comfort. This will also reveal new information on the basis of which they are able to identify next move. It is a joint effort in an iterative process.This requires two levels of empathy. The first is listening curiously to identify the actual situation or problem that the client is describing. The second level of empathy is listening curiously to what is bothering the client.The example Shein uses is a client who says: “I am concerned about the level of engagement of my employees. Could you help me build a culture of engagement?” Empathy at level one, must explore what he means by “engagement” and “culture” by asking for examples. Empathy at level two is to ask, “What is it that is concerning you; why are you worried about this?”Humble Consulting is the appreciation that you can only know what you know, and do not know what you do not know. ‘Arrogant consulting’ in contrast is believing that you know all, and you understand the subtle but powerful nuances of the culture within which the client operates. You also understand what is troubling the client after only a cursory explanation.This humble position starts and ends with constant questions and prompts for clarification. So often these questions point to the answer the client requires. To be really helpful, is to do something for your clients that they cannot do by themselves.Both books on humility are essential reading for all managers and management consultants.Readability Light --+-- SeriousInsights High -+--- LowPractical High -+--- LowIan Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy

Worth it - get it. Came fast.

Liked the fact that it is very real and enables consultants to confront problematic situations without the pressure of having to "pull the rabbit out of the hat"I did not like the way some of the concepts were repeated. at times I felt that the book could have been shortened considerably and still say the same things.

Prof. Ed Schein verdeutlicht anhand konkreter Beispiele wie seine theoretischen Arbeiten zu Corporate Culture in die Praxis umgesetzt werden können.Insbesondere stellt er damit den Berater als Kulturträger in den Mittelpunkt und zeigt auf, wie ein sog. „Level2Relationship“ zu echter Hilfe beitragen kann... und wie auf dieser Vertrauensbasis komplexe Probleme bearbeitbare werden, auch bei ständig wechselnden Rahmenbedingungen.

I truly respect Edgar Schein for his extraordinary understanding of culture and how it impacts leadership in any organization. His books on the subject of culture, process consulting are well known. He has written another series of books starting with 'Helping' , 'Humble inquiry' - both are exceptional - a must for anybody in managerial or helping role! Now comes 'Humble Consulting', another masterpiece! Schein's real genius lies in his ability to explain complex ideas in a very simple manner. All his books emanate from his years of consulting experience, including this one. I would say this book is an essential reading for anyone in consulting field.

Schein先生の"Helping"（「人を助けるとはどういうことか」）の具体的な展開。"Humble Inquiry"を対人支援のスキルと考えるなら、"Humble Consulting"は対人支援のプロセスを扱っている。仕事はより複雑になり、対人間の相互依存に左右される度合いが高くなっている現在、従来型の診断型のコンサルティングは有効に機能し難くなっている。答えを見出すのはコンサルタントで、そのために高いフィーを払っている。それとは対極にあるのが"Humble Consulting"。ここでは答えを見つけるのはクライアントの役割となる。コンサルタントは"Humble Inquiry"を駆使し、クライアントが答えを見つけ出す支援をする。その基盤となるのが、"Level2"の関係性である。診断型のコンサルティングが、"Level1"、つまり、プロフェッショナルとして、クライアントとの距離を保持するのに対し、"Level2"の関係性は、より個人として個人と向き合う関係を指す。これまで、リーダーシップ論や組織論でも、課題を優先するのか、人間関係を優先するのかという２軸で問われることが多かった。この２軸で言えば、診断型との対比は明らかだ。"Humble Consulting"は、親密な人間関係の構築を踏まえた上での課題解決を目指す。