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If we only recognised and released the capabilities which we had on the inside, our organisations could be so much more efficient, effective and purposeful with the money they spend on consultants. This title provides readers with what they needed to tap into those capabilities.
List of contents
Foreword.
Preface.
1 Introduction - Why No More Consultants?
Five Key Questions.
How to Read No More Consultants.
Chapter by Chapter.
2 Discovering the River.
Forming the River.
Beating Consultants at Their Own Game.
Spotting the Potential for Learning and Sharing.
Examining the Distribution of Performance.
Watching the River Over Time.
3 Building the Framework.
Deciding Who to Involve.
Identifying and Selecting the Practices.
Deciding the Variables.
Defining the Levels.
Developing our 'Effective Meetings' Example.
Story 1 - Using Self-assessment to Unite a Consortium of Companies.
Story 2 - Helping UK Government Departments to Develop and Learn.
The Benefits of Global Rather than Local Frameworks.
Defining the Strategy.
4 Applying the Approach.
It's All About the Conversations.
Involving the Procrastinators.
The Environment.
Story 3 - Responding to AIDS in Brazil.
Sharing Experience Within a Framework.
It is Subjective, and De-personalises the Emotion.
It Challenges Our Assumptions.
The Focus for Improvement.
Finding Ways to Close the Gap in Performance.
Story 4 - Developing Professional Communities in Oracle.
Story 5 - Assessing Knowledge Management in UK Regional Government Offices.
Story 6 - Linking the Supply Chain.
Launching and Going to Scale.
5 The Role of the Facilitator.
What Are the Attributes of a Good Facilitator?
What Does a Facilitator Do?
6 Creating the River.
Constructing the River Diagram on Paper.
Innovative and Practical Ways to Visualise a River Diagram.
Creating the Stairs Diagram.
Story 7 - Developing a Knowledge Culture in the National Health Service.
7 Learning from Experience.
Offers and Requests.
Learning from Experience Through a Peer Assist.
Story 8 - Organic Rice Farming in Thailand.
Story 9 - Peers in Unexpected Places - When Great Ormond Street Hospital Met Ferrari!
Barriers to Sharing.
Tall Poppy Syndrome.
Shrinking Violet Syndrome.
Not Invented Here Syndrome.
Real Men Don't Ask for Directions.
8 Improving and Sustaining.
Measuring Progress.
Leading and Lagging Indicators.
Modifying the Framework.
Local Customisation.
External Benchmarking - Towards Level Six.
Story 10 - The Sustainable Development of Cities.
9 So What Do We Do Now?
Appendices.
Appendix A Self-Assessment Framework for Effective Meetings.
Appendix B Learning and Development Self-Assessment Framework.
Appendix C Creating a River Diagram with Excel.
Appendix D Knowledge and Organisation Development in the NHS.
Further Reading.
Index.
Report
"...an easy read, taking you step by step through an approach to identifying strengths within your business." ( Supply Management , March 2010)
