Helping Clients Engineer Solutions to the Problem Confronting Them
WELCOME
Welcome to my "Skullworks." I am Fred Nickols, Managing Partner of DISTANCE CONSULTING. Here, on this site, I present the products of my thinking and writing about my experiences in the workplace. The red dot on the map below indicates my location in Ohio. The yellow dots indicate the locations of current and prior clients. Enjoy your visit and if you don't do anything else, be sure to visit The Knowledge Workers' Tool Room.
ASK FRED
I recently offered a new service: "Ask Fred." Oftentimes, people are in search of nothing more than the answer to a specific question. So, to accommodate that need, I set up an email which people can use to send their questions to me. Send any question you might have to askfred@nickols.us. If I can answer it, I will; if I can't, i'll tell you so.
WHAT I DO
People often ask me what I do as a consultant, The best way to answer that question is to share three things: (1) My Value Proposition, (2) My Modus Operandi, and (3) My Priorities. (A tip of the hat to Karl Albrecht for apprising me of this framework.)
My Value Proposition
The
financial and operational value of the results I help my clients achieve far
outweighs the costs of achieving them.
My Modus Operandi
I assist my clients in identifying, planning and
making the changes necessary to achieve the results they desire. I support
them in figuring out what to do, how to do it and who does what when.
I do this by listening carefully, asking lots
of questions, investigating what I uncover, analyzing issues and
circumstances, surfacing and challenging assumptions, and posing
possibilities based on my broad and varied experience.
My Priorities
Listening to others.
Clarifying and understanding what they tell me.
Being alert to unnoticed opportunities.
Compiling credible evidence regarding the
nature of the situation and what to do about it.
Appreciating the contributions made by others.
Sharing the glory.
Giving credit where credit is due.
Paying
attention to the organization’s politics but staying out of them. Looking
for ways to bring my experience to bear.
In short, I help my clients figure out what to do about seemingly intractable situations. I help them get unstuck and move forward. My clients tell me there are two aspects of my consulting practice that stand out: (1) I come quickly to the heart of a matter; and (2) I am able to get the "little people" to go along with the program. I can do this in a wide range of situations at various levels because my background has equipped me with some first-rate knowledge about people, systems, organizations, work flows and processes, change and change management, and troubleshooting or problem solving. For more about how I help my clients reduce uncertainty regarding action, see "Helping Clients Reduce Uncertainty."
BIG WINS
If you are a senior manager, executive or CEO, you might want to read about a couple of "Big Wins" by clicking here.
| search engine by freefind |
A GUIDE to THIS SITE
This site contains hundred of articles, models and tools for use in a variety of areas by a wide range of practitioners (e.g., training, human performance, Organization Development, change and change management, consulting, knowledge management and communities of practice, problem solving, strategy and strategic planning, and work and management). All this can a bit overwhelming. Where to look and for what? Fortunately, there is a complete site index, a guide to the resources on this site, and it is in downloadable PDF format. No need to move from section to section or click on menus to see what’s in that section. Simply open or download the PDF file and scroll through it online or offline at your convenience. It has working links to all sections of the site and to most of the contents of all sections, including the tools in the award-winning Knowledge Workers’ Tool Room. The link to the site index is immediately below. Think of it as your guide to the resources on this site.
Complete Site Index: A Guide to the Resources on this Site
If you want to browse this
site, the links below are to the major content sections of this site (e.g., click on
Book Reviews and you will be taken to that section). The numbers in parentheses indicate the
number of items in that section. You can browse the various
sections using the links below or you can use the search box above if you're looking for something
in particular.
The links below are to the personal and professional pages of this site (e.g., clicking on Fred Nickols will take you to my page).
| Fred Nickols | Project History | Resume | Services |
MY BOOKS
I have published two books.
(1) Sea Stories: Tales about Leadership, Morale and More, is available on Amazon in Kindle and paper back. One of the sea stories can be read by clicking here.
(2) Tools for Knowledge Workers, Vol 1, is also available on Amazon. It is a collection of 12 visual thinking tools along with information explaining each tool and how to use it, including examples, and cases. Chapter 1 presents each tool in a one-page format. Chapters 2-13 discuss uses and applications of each tool.
You can access both of the books via my author's page on Amazon by clicking on either of the book cover images below.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
You are welcome to a single copy of anything on this web site for your personal use. However, none of the material on this site may be reproduced or further distributed or posted elsewhere without the payment of a modest fee. Compensation for materials on this site rests on what I call an "Honor System" and the honor on which it rests is yours. For more, see Honor System.
This page last updated on June 20, 2024