Sail the 7 C's of Consulting: Sound Advice for Project Managers

A client recently told me about a book they're using in their training curriculum from Mick Cope, called The 7 C's of Consulting. I checked it out, and the advice is not only relevant to consultants, it's relevant to project managers as well.

To summarize from 10,000 feet, the 7 C's to consider are:

1) Client (their desired outcomes, change triggers, motivation)

2) Clarify (the situation, problem, or opportunity)

3) Create (the idea for the proposed solution, budget, flexibility, alternatives)

4) Change (the impacts, human issues, what-ifs, stakeholder landscape)

5) Confirm (the measurements of success, who/how/when)

6) Continue (think about how to ensure lasting success, risk avoidance, success factors)

7) Close (lessons learned, benefits followup, help client become self-sufficient)

I noticed that the approach seems to support my Service-Oriented Project Management (SOPM) framework quite well. Both models focus on the up front research, ongoing client interaction, and long-term thinking necessary for lasting success. In SOPM, I propose a 4-step approach called UP-IT (Understand, Prepare, Iterate, Transform). I could easlily see the first 6 C's of Cope's model as part of the Understand phase, and the 7th C (Close) as part of the Transform phase.

In any case, I recommend Cope's book to project managers and leaders looking for a competitive edge and a client-focused mindset.