Secrets of Consulting - Gerald Weinberg

May 1, 2005

As the subtitle of this book suggests, it contains a lot of thoughts about how and when you should give advice. It also says why this is the case.

You have to know: as a programmer I never understood why nothing ever happened when I pointed out a problem. I never understood why people wouldn’t embrace my idea to solve their problem. I hoped I would find answers to this (and similar) questions in the book - and I wasn’t disappointed!

The book itself is well written, humorous and has a lot of little stories that illustrate the points the author wants to make. After reading the book I found variations of those stories happening in my environment - and by remembering the stories, I was sometimes able to remember the advice.

I really enjoyed to read this book and quickly finished it. I’m sure I will reread it again some time in the future. Too bad I didn’t read this book a few years ago, when I tried to move the company I was working for in the direction I thought best. I now have a better understanding of why things didn’t go my way.

There is so much good advice in this book and it is such a quick read, that I recommend you get a copy yourself. You probably get your moneys worth even if you are not a consultant (which I am not either) or planning to become one.

Posted by Jerome Mueller