Several years ago, I read the original Secrets of Consulting by the same author, Gerald Weinberg (see my review for that book). After reading some of the other reviews here for More Secrets of Consulting, I must say that I concur with much of the opinion written. The original Secrets is a classic work - there simply is no other consulting book in the marketplace of this genre, and not only is the information presented in that work very useful, it is very entertaining as well. Unlike the original Secrets, which presents a philosophy of consulting, More Secrets makes an attempt to present a number of consulting tools within tangible categories that consist of six self-esteem tools by family therapist Virginia Satir as well as another ten tools that Weinberg created himself. As a general rule, I like the tools that both Satir and Weinberg offer in this book. I like how Weinberg ties together the Wisdom Box and the Golden Key, for instance. Among my least favorite of the tools presented is the Courage Stick and the the Egg, the Carabiner, and the Feather. The last three of these least-favorites are presented hurriedly in one chapter, toward the end of the book, and I cannot help to wonder whether he was pressed for time as he began wrapping up his writing. The Courage Stick chapter is bizarre - Weinberg actually seems to be recommending to readers that they carry physical objects, apparently similar to good luck charms, to help individuals build up courage during the more difficult portions of consulting engagements. Strange. If the reader disregards these two chapters, however, they will find that many of the rules and principles which Gerald presents here are much in line with the original Secrets - not nearly as entertaining, but still worth reading. Some of my favorites are:

*Cary's Crap Caution: "Anything not worth doing is not worth doing right."
*The Mercenary Maxim: "One of the best ways to lose lots of money is to do something only for the money."
*Dani's Decider: "When you stop learning new things, it's time to move on."
*The Railroad Counter-Paradox: "When service is too good, the suppliers may never hear about it, and thus they drop the service."
*LeGuin's Law: "When action grows unprofitable, gather information. When information grows unprofitable, sleep."
*The Detective's Fourth Rule: "If you can't understand where the questions are coming from, they're probably coming from an agenda someone doesn't want you to know about."
*The Parallel Paradox: "If you're too much like your clients, you don't attract them; if you're too different, you frighten them away."
*Knaomi's Knowledge Knockout: "Experience is not just the best teacher, it's the only teacher. Experience may be the only teacher, but it doesn't necessarily teach anything."

Of course, many of the rules and principles are just Weinberg opinion. Immanuel Kant, the great German philosopher, for instance, said that "experience teaches nothing without theory, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play". Because I consider this book to be an extension to the original Secrets, I strongly recommend that these books be read in succession. Several other reviewers correctly note that Weinberg cites some of his other works in More Secrets. Although this can be seen as a bit of self-promotion (even a large portion of the bibliography for More Secrets consists of Weinberg writings), most of these citations are to the original Secrets because of the heavy tie between the two books, and I consider this facet of the book reasonable.

If you have ever attended one of my presentations, you know that frequently I recommend Gerald (Jerry) Weinberg's The Secrets of Consulting, published in 1985. I've even commented that I've had to purchase half a dozen copies of it because I lend it out and it never comes back. I recommended this book to everyone, even non-consultants because the subtitle, The Guide to Giving and Receiving Advice Successfully, is a valuable topic no matter how you earn your money.

In 2002, Weinberg published More Secrets of Consulting: The Consultant's Toolkit. This is a sort of sequel to the original volume, with more of a focus on traditional consulting over general advice giving tips. Traditionally, sequels don't do as well as first releases, and Weinberg addresses this starting on the first page of the book:

[When I mentioned to my pal Michelle that I was writing a sequel to The Secrets of Consulting, she shook her head in disbelief. "Why don't you quit while you are ahead. Don't you believe your own preaching? What about The Law of Raspberry Jam?"1

Michelle was referring to the law that describes how any Great Message gets diluted when carried too far: the wider you spread it, the thinner it gets."]

From there, Jerry goes on to say that he is writing this book because the first one earned more dollars for consultants who read it, perhaps $10,000 per year, in Michelle's case. I believe that my own consulting revenue had increased by at least that much, maybe twice or three times that, since I first read The Secrets of Consulting. Not because I learned how to put more tricky language into my contracts, but because I learned how make my services more valuable to my clients.

The big question, though, is whether this sequel will have the same effect of making me more valuable to my clients.

You may have read one of Jerry's books on system thinking, or even the Psychology of Computer Programming. If you have read his later works, you'd know that Jerry has been working on the softer sides of systems, especially through his Amplifying Your Effectiveness work. This work is based on Virginia Satir's writings and More Secrets builds upon Satir's Self Esteem Toolkit:

The Wisdom Box
The Golden Key
The Courage Stick
The Wishing Wand
The Detective Hat
The Yes/No Medallion

Plus Jerry's additions:

The Heart
The Mirror
The Telescope
The Fish-Eye Lens
The Gyroscope
The Egg
The Carabiner
The Feather
The Hourglass
The Oxygen Mask

For each of these tools, Weinberg explains how it can help, what happens when it isn't used properly, and what lessons learned he's collected about why they are important parts of a consultant's toolkit.

If you you were wondering about the footnote in the quote above, Weinberg make frequent use of footnotes to his other writings, especially references to the original Secrets. While I definitely do not see these as ads for his other works, I did find them a bit distracting.

This volume of Secrets focuses inward, on a consultant's inner feelings, beliefs, and behaviors much more than the first work. Some readers, especially those looking for a quick fix, may not find this work as valuable as others might. However, everything that Weinberg writes is part of your toolkit, even if you've never used it.

I recommend this work for those working in a consulting-like role, especially independent consultants who have fewer resources available to them than those working in large firms. I can also recommend this to non-consultant looking for help in working with others. However, if you need to choose between The Secrets and More Secrets, go for the first one.