CLIENT, CLARIFY, CREATE, CHANGE, CONFIRM, CONTINUE, CLOSE = THE SEVEN
SECRETS OF CONSULTANCY
"Most change methods are effective. For the most part, each one is
theoretically sound, well-researched, and clearly articulated. But when
they're put in organizations, they fail-at least 70 to 80% of the
time".
George Smart, Managing Partner, Strategic Development Incorporated
The definition of a consultant is someone who facilitates organisational
change and provides expertise on technical, functional and business
topics during development or implementation. In other words a consultant
is someone who helps others to change.
However, change isn't such an easy target to achieve. Research shows
that the vast majority of change programmes fail. On a daily basis we
hear about projects that are delayed, cancelled, over budget or
boycotted by the end user. The problem is that we can never force
people to change - remember the backlash against Jamie Oliver's healthy
school meals campaign where parents handed junk food to their children
through school fences. The key to successful change is to engage with
the end user and help them want to change.
The Seven Cs of Consulting offers a consistent and collaborative
language that helps both consultant and client deliver value through
sustainable change. Based around the author's highly successful 7Cs
model (Client, Clarify, Create, Change, Confirm, Continue, Close) this
approach is simple and accessible but firmly grounded in research and
real life experience.
The 7Cs approach opens up the complexity of sustainable change to the
consultant and client and helps them explore- and then avoid - the real
issues that cause change to fail within a more professional and trusting
relationship.
