This book can help keep a consultant on the straight and narrow, remove temptation to ‘do evil’ and set some expectations for clients along the way, with its quality, timely and accessible guidance to ethics relating to the external consultant.

It may appear to be superfluous, since a consultant trades on their reputation, but equally there can be pressures both visible and invisible that may sometimes put stress on matters and lead to an ethical dilemma. You must serve your interest, your company’s and that of your client at the same time, and it is not guaranteed that these are necessarily synchronised. This book is aimed at the individual IT consultant, although the same knowledge can be deployed into other disciplines, helping identify and react to various issues that may emerge throughout a consultancy process.

A host of case studies add to the author’s already clear and expressive text so you can contextualise matters further. Even if you believe that you are doing everything right and are ‘wholly ethical’, this can be a worthwhile book to consider, helping validate your beliefs and give benefit from a quality, distant endorsement in the process. It can be a secret between reader and their book if you do find something to err, modify, going forward…

As the author notes, consulting is a complex business and consultants don’t usually wake up one day and decide to be unethical just for the fun of it. Treat this book as home insurance on one hand and confidential counselling on the other. A win-win. Possibly the cheapest insurance you can get for your career.

The book is comprehensive and does contain more detail that you probably will need, but it is very easy to dip in and out, skip here and there, and return for a consultation as desired. The contents have broad appeal and deserve wider distribution within a company, even where consulting is not necessarily to the fore. Each chapter has references for additional reading too, as required.

An excellent book that can deserve a place on your bookshelf, whether physical or virtual.

As a independent consultant, this book allowed me to think a bit differently.