The final Yes! And... piece: 🃏The Contrary Consultant

Orientation: hi, it's me Tom Critchlow - indie consultant, blogger and lover of bright clothing. You probably signed up at tomcritchlow.com

I'm really excited to publish a new piece today. It's the last in the 5 part Yes! And... series and wraps up the longest series of writing I've done to date. When I first read the book Impro by Keith Johnstone I had the idea for a blog post about the power of "Yes! And..." and opening up clients through learning from improv acting. As I began to write the words kept going and the initial draft became three separate pieces. In the process of writing those three pieces two more were spawned and finally the series is 15k+ words.

Phew.

Honestly I'm really proud of this series - I think it's some of my best writing and I'm exploring ideas and concepts that I think are lacking in the discourse around freelancing, independent work and consulting.

If you're new to the series here's the overview:

Part 1 - The Office is a Theatre for Work. This post looks at the central problem of “performing” work and how important it is for modern knowledge work. How to think on your feet without resorting to BS.

Part 2 - Optimism as an Operating System. This post highlights the tendency for consultants to be critical and to see everything as a problem and how optimism can be a more powerful tool, especially for long term retainers.

Part 3 - Blocking & Unblocking Clients. Treating clients as blocked actors we explore how to generate & co-create strategy. Ultimately finding that the consultant is often the one blocking the client.

Part 4 - Navigating Power & Status. How to get things done inside organizations by understanding power potholes and status switching.

TODAY! Part 5 - The Contrary Consultant. Embracing the fool & the power of not fitting in. We explore the identity of outsider and how to reconcile this with working inside client organizations.