The Consulting Apprenticeship

The Consulting Apprenticeship is written for business professionals and consultants with a focus on nuances passed on during apprenticeship regarding consulting delivery. Business professionals can benefit with a jump-start approach to applying consulting principles to their business. Designed for the busy professional, The Consulting Apprenticeship is a book of forty, quick-read ideas. These forty, short chapters are divided into four sections:

Consulting Mindset - This section covers consulting ways of thinking and can be adopted by both company personnel and consultants. Consulting Techniques - This section covers specific tactics and toolkit methods when using consultative approaches in the trenches as either a company- or consulting firm-practitioner. Consulting Mastery - This section covers advanced perspectives on consulting and may be more useful to either company personnel evaluating consultants or mid- to senior-level consultants. Consulting Special Situations - Whereas the prior sections are applicable to a wide variety of situations, this section covers more infrequent, specific business situations involving consultative approaches in the trenches as either a company- or consulting firm-practitioner. Each chapter of the book concludes with an optional, takeaway exercise. The exercises vary widely in terms of level of involvement. For example, in some cases you can refer to online material. In other cases, you can engage in deeper thinking or apply the concepts over an extended period of time. However you choose to use this book, consulting mastery is a lifelong pursuit. I hope this book helps you with your journey. Stephen Shu Praise for The Consulting Apprenticeship "When one of the companies I worked for needed help taking its consulting organization to the next level, I hired Steve Shu. His ability to drive our management team - all with different opinions on what we should or should not do - to a 'so-what' conclusion and pragmatic next steps gave us the jump start we needed. He is one of the best and deeply understands how consulting organizations should work. His book provides great techniques as well as tools you can use immediately." - Prakash Panjwani, CEO at WatchGuard Technologies, former President and CEO of SafeNet "Steve Shu has put together a comprehensive guide to the all-important nuts and bolts of being a great consultant. The information in Chapter 21, 'Eight Secret Weapons of the Modern Consultant, ' is worth the price of the book. If you're serious about being a more effective consultant, read this book." - Michael McLaughlin, Author of Winning the Professional Services Sale and Principal Consultant at MindShare Consulting LLC; former Partner at Deloitte "Steve Shu has written a hands-on, highly practical guide for new management consultants and internal corporate business strategists alike. So many projects fail because they do not practice the basic consulting project management hygiene Steve describes in chapter 11. If you are new to the trade and want to greatly increase your chance of delivering successful consulting projects, read this book." - Robert Reppa, Vice President Strategy at Johnson Controls and former Partner at Booz & Company "Steve Shu has written a Rosetta Stone for both new and experienced consultants. Filled with forty power-packed ideas and practical chapter takeaways, Consulting Apprenticeship is structured for busy executives to easily digest each concept. A must read for those who seek to go beyond the shallow bromides of the consulting profession, and hone their skills with deeper, more meaningful approaches." - Adrian C. Ott, Award-winning author of The 24-Hour Customer, and CEO, Exponential Edge Inc, called "One of Silicon Valley's most respected strategists" by Consulting Magazine