I read three books recently that I thought would be worth reviewing here. They fall into that category of “business” books that I basically never read. I came upon these three for different reasons, and although I’m not interested in adopting their primary points of view, there were tidbits that were worth the read (or a skim, in one case) in the end.
The first book, called “Made to Stick:Why Some Ideas Survive, and Others Die.” I picked it up by happenstance, I think because I had NOSI on my mind, and I was thinking about how to talk to people about open source and nonprofits. It’s an interesting book, with a basic premise. in order to get an idea to stick, the idea needs to be Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, tug at Emotions, and tell a Story (their acronym is SUCCES). They do a good job of using examples for each of these things (like why Southwest Airlines is so successful, and why the Kidney Heist urban legend sticks so well, among other stories. It’s worth a read, I think, if you have a message to get across.
The second book, called “Elements of Persuasion” is a book that was sent to me for free – someone thought that I might want to review it on my blog. This was the book I skimmed, because, honestly, I was bored after the first chapter. It basically only focuses on the last “S” part of the first book: storytelling. It uses examples and such, but it is not anywhere near as engaging and readable as “Made to Stick.” There ae a few interesting and useful tips, but if you are only going to buy one book about getting your message across, buy the first one, not this one.
Although in most cases, these books are designed for people who want to get more business (the first book not so much – they have some good nonprofit examples.) The third book is in a bit of a different category – not about landing more business, per se, but making more money. It’s called “Value Based Fees.” It’s written by this guy, Alan Weiss, who has written the “Ultimate Consulting” series, which seems to be focused primarily on making a lot of money in consulting. I would never have bought this book if it didn’t come recommended by a colleague who I respected. I mean, the cover has all these dollar bills on it! To explain a bit – he does big money consulting with huge Fortune 500 companies, and does projects for hundreds of thousands of dollars that result in the companies saving, or making, millions. A very different context than I, or most people reading this work in, for sure.
All of that said, he had some very interesting perspectives. One of which is something I would love to talk with other consultants (and clients, too) about. He thinks that time-based billing is bad. His reasons are interesting. On one hand, he feels that consultants should base their fees on the value they bring to the consulting relationship, not the time spent. He feels that there is an inherent conflict of interest in working for time – it is in the consultants interest to spend more time on the project, regardless of the outcome. And he thinks that deliverables are also problematic. He thinks that ultimately, all consulting relationships should boil down to the ultimate results for the client. His examples are things like saving millions by reducing employee turnover, increasing profits by streamlining processes, etc. Not about how many hours you spent at the client office, or how many reports you wrote. Really, what he thinks is that these forms of billing reduce the fees you can charge.
It’s a little odd, because mainly what he’s interested in is making more money. But some of his ideas are interesting, especially the notion of setting the fees on the value you bring, rather than the time you spend. I’m not sure how to make the translation to nonprofit consuting, but I do find it interesting how blanket his rejection of time-based fees are. And I do, certainly see his point about conflict of interest – if we charge by the hour, we have an interest in spending more time.
My favorite consulting book is still “The Consultant’s Calling” which, in some ways is diametrically opposed to the values of this book. But, there are some useful ideas to mull over.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Michelle–I’ve read the first two book and agree with both of your reviews.
The third I have not read, but have seen similar books on how to charge for consulting. I actually agree that it makes no sense to use time as the unit for exactly the reasons he describes. I also think that when you bill based on time, you get away from the “results” piece of it. Considering that nonprofits are increasingly being held responsible for outcomes, not just activities, it makes sense that their consultants would move in this direction, too. I could see being paid some base for doing the work and then a bonus or something on top of that for achieving specific outcomes. I actually have a book around here somewhere that describes how to negotiate this kind of process. I’ll have to look for it. Definitely an interesting conversation to have.
Thanks for mentioning my book. A great many people in my Mentor Program consult with non-profits. I infer from your comments that there is, in you view, something antithetical about providing quality consulting and making money. Money is simply a means to an end. The real wealth is discretionary time. If you don’t help yourself, you can’t help others. If I weren’t making so much money, I couldn’t contribute the substantial amounts I provide for charities. This is a business, and successful consultants have to regard it as such.
I do see your point. It’s one thing to justify huge consulting fees for large for-profit companies where the value can be measured in increasing profits, for instance, and the consulting fees are small fractions of the increased profits. And, of course, the CEO, or CFO, or Manager that hires you is making six (or more) figures. It’s much harder to justify high consulting fees in a context where sometimes (not always) the benefit is less obviously measurable, or measurable in increased ability to serve people, and those that hired you are getting underpaid because they’ve chosen to be in the nonprofit sector.
I agree with you that the real wealth is discretionary time, but there are all sorts of different ways to achieve that. My way is a simpler lifestyle.