Client – Getting it Right from the Start
1. Client—getting it right from the start. “The whole consulting process begins and ends with the client,” Cope writes. “And it is imperative you apply sufficient time and energy to understanding the person as well as the problem.” Cope helps the reader consider several aspects of working with clients. At the end of each section, he asks a “back pocket question” that should be considered during a project, such as, “Am I able to view the problem as the client sees it?” All the questions are printed on a Seven Cs “pocket guide” that you can tear out of the book and take with you to assignments.
“Trade is a social Act”.
• Orientation – Viewing the problem as the Client sees it (including their perception)
• Desired Outcome – Bringing clarity of the desired outcome (the real value and not just an end-state)
• Change Ladder – Removing the fog from the problem by focusing on where change may be required
• Situation Viability – Studying if the issue can be successfully resolved and see if the timing is right for change
• Decision Makers – Having a clear picture of the decision makers who can influence the initial stages of contract development
• Ethos – Considering if the changes will be coercive or participative in Nature
• Contract – Establishing a contract that sets out a framework for action and measurement Clarify – Understanding the Real Issues
2. Clarify—understanding the real issues. Cope quotes Claude Levi-Strauss: “The wise man doesn’t give the right answers; he poses the right questions.” According to Cope, one of the right questions is, “Have I gathered information that will determine the real source of the issue and not just the symptoms?”
“The wise man doesn’t give the right answers; he poses the right questions.”
• Diagnosis – Gathering information that will determine the real sources of the issue and not just the symptoms
• Shadow – Getting a clear appreciation of the unspoken activities affecting the situation
• Culture – Understanding the deep cultural factors that might affect the change
• System Construction – Understanding the structural make-up of the system
• Stakeholders – Getting a clear map that indicates who can influence the outcome of the change
• Life-cycle risk – Determining the extent to which known and unknown factors will have an impact
• Feedback – Establishing clarity on how the client and the organization wishes to be informed of the progress Create – Developing a Deliverable Solution
3. Create—developing a deliverable solution. Back-pocket questions for this C include “Have I ensured that any creative solutions can actually be delivered?” and “Have I understood the potential creative blockages for my client?”
“Imagination is intelligence having fun.”
• Managed Creativity – Ensuring that any creative solutions can actually be delivered.
• Creative Blockage – Understanding the potential creative blockages for my client.
• Scanning – Finding solutions in the work others have done or doing (not trying to re-invent the wheel)
• Storyboard – Underlining a clear process for deciding on the final solution.
• Resources – Mapping the resources to the potential solutions to ensure that the options are viable
• Stream Owners – Identifying clear owners for the solution and verifying that they have the capability and desire to own them
• Positics – “Positive application of Politics!”. Considering if it is possible to redirect some of the selfish energy of internal politics and turn the negative aspects into worthy ones.

Change – Working to Make Things Happen
4. Change—working to make things happen. Typical questions are “Do I know how people can be encouraged to be involved in the transformation process?” and “Do I know how people will react to proposed changes?”
“Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you’ll understand what little chance you have of trying to change others. -Jacob M. Braude”
• Methodology -Understanding the ethos and approach of how the change will be managed
• Energy – Appreciating of where the change energy will come from, and how it will be decapitated across the different stake holders
• Engage – Engaging the people to be involved in the transformation process at a personal and emotional level.
• Entry – Identifying the best level of entry to make the long-lasting transformation on the change ladder
• System Dynamics – Expecting how the system would react to the proposed change
• Uncertainty – Make the plan flexible enough to operate in a dynamic and complex world (predictability and stability are false idols!)
• Resistance – Accepting resistance to change as expected and working towards minimizing the resistance to the proposed changes Confirm – Measuring the Change
1. Confirm—measuring the change. “Is the relationship between qualitative and quantitative measures clear to me?”
“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted -Albert Einstein.” • Responsible – Agreeing upon who will own and manage the measurement process
• Timing – Deciding when the measurement will take place (without which early results – which may not be true indicators – are taken to measure success)
• Design – Identifying the qualitative and quantitative measures and establishing the relationship between these measures.
• Depth – Determining if extrinsic measurement be used or to deal with intrinsic issues such as motivation, attitude and beliefs
• Data map – Controlling measurement activities to ensure that an integrated approach is taken in the clarification stage (and not a deluge of data)
• Consulting Performance – Gathering quick specific and detailed feedback of consultant (self) performance from the client
• Costs – Having a clear view of the impact cost will have on the different measurement processes Continue – Make Sure that the Solution Sticks

5. Continue—making sure the solution sticks. “Have I ensured that a bureaucratic system will not strangle the transformation?”
“Many receive advice, few profit by it. -Publilius Syrus”
• Sustainability – Planning to ensure that the change is sustained and ensure slippage doesn’t occur after the transformation project has been closed
• Language – Determining the extent of the change by observing the shift in the client or consumer language
• Gravity – Ensuring that the weight and structure and bureaucracy of the organization doesn’t take away from the transformation
• Flow – Gaining from change projects by way of learning and reflecting (equally important as the end delivery)
• Knowledge Transfer – Transferring the knowledge and competencies so that they remain in the business
• Knowledge Management – Working towards making knowledge created as part of the change be embodied as a tangible asset to the business
• Diffusion Channels – Analyzing the client’s capability to physically diffuse new ideas through various channels Close – Signing Off with Style
6. Close—signing off with style. “Is there a clear indication of a tangible improvement to the operational or commercial viability of the organization?” “Have I identified what opportunities exist for further work?”
“This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end; but it is perhaps the end of the beginning.
-Winston Churchill”
• Clients view – Listening and taking time to understand the client perception over the total life cycle of change
• Outcome Review – Pulling together data and gauging the the success of the programme
• Learning – Help the client to consider what has been learned over and above the planned outcomes
• Added Value – Checking if there is clear indication of a tangible improvement to the operational or commercial viability of the organization
• Build – Investigate what opportunities exist for future work
• Re-engage – In this closing stage, there are multiple options to re-engage with the client. Key ones are re-engage and modify (if parts of the process has failed), re-engage and extend, close and exit (with a feel-good factor), close and start a new engagement (an ideal outcome).
• Exit – Ensuring that unnecessary levels of dependence have gone from all sides of the relationship