I recently re-read Chapter 6 of Peter Block’s Flawless Consulting Fieldbook, a companion to his Flawless Consulting, the bible of the consulting industry. At the outset of this chapter he makes a remarkable claim: “The way to change a culture is to change the conversations.”

This statement strikes me as both true and profound. How many times do we, as consultants, try to help a client change a clearly dysfunctional pattern—even one the client admits is problematic—only to find the conversation drifts back to familiar ground? We try to refocus the conversation, but to no avail, and we all leave the meeting frustrated.

Block’s suggestion is to engage the group in a conversation about what matters to the members of the group—to view them as participants in the discussion, not as recipients of information.

When I have taken this approach, perhaps inadvertently or out of frustration, I have found that the conversation can indeed change. Since people make their own sense of their work life, asking them what matters to them and challenging them to go deeper than the usual complaints—to get personal, to take a risk—can be powerful. Of course, the conversation must be two-way, and so the consultant must go deeper with them.

The result can be the beginning of a more lasting change in the conversation and, subsequently, in the group’s views of their work and organizational life together.

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