Secrets of Consulting
a guide to giving & getting advice successfully
by Gerald M. Weinberg · first published 1985
69% recommend31% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Practical, people-focused advice on pricing, handling client demands, and giving advice effectively; suits developers starting out in consulting or freelancing, and clients wanting to work well with consultants.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2007–2025Are your lights on?
Donald C. Gause, Gerald M. Weinberg
Recommended by 15 · mentioned by 1815 recommend · 18 mention15 recommend · 1815 recommend
2008–2025Becoming a technical leader
Gerald M. Weinberg
Recommended by 28 · mentioned by 3028 recommend · 30 mention28 recommend · 3028 recommend
2008–2015Appreciative inquiry
David L. Cooperrider
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 22 recommend · 2 mention2 recommend · 22 recommend
2009–2024Exploring requirements
Donald C. Gause
Recommended by 5 · mentioned by 95 recommend · 9 mention5 recommend · 95 recommend
Debugging Teams
Brian W. Fitzpatrick, Ben Collins-Sussman
Recommended by 4 · mentioned by 84 recommend · 8 mention4 recommend · 84 recommend
The psychology of computer programming
Gerald M. Weinberg
Recommended by 44 · mentioned by 6544 recommend · 65 mention44 recommend · 6544 recommend
2018–2023The dichotomy of leadership
Jocko Willink
Recommended by 3 · mentioned by 43 recommend · 4 mention3 recommend · 43 recommend
![Cover of The Effective Manager [Paperback] Horstman,Mark](https://covers.hackerbooks.org/c/10207226.webp)
2016–2022The Effective Manager [Paperback] Horstman,Mark
Horstman,Mark, Matthew Dudley
Recommended by 4 · mentioned by 44 recommend · 4 mention4 recommend · 44 recommend
…implement the mindset and processes - on how they can solve a problem/challenge? you are a consultant. or to paraphrase jerry weinberg: a consultant gives advise when asked. if you are the second, read "secrets of consulting" by weinberg (and "are your lights on"). then, what is your product? what do you want to advise on? and find out why this would be so valuable to pay you 10k, 25k, 50k, ... then, get a client, anyway…
on “Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?” ↗1. I would read "The Secrets of Consulting" by Gerald Weinberg The biggest lesson (I think it was in that book) was that you're being hired as an expert on a topic. to be a Successful expert you must A) have an expert level of knowledge about…
on “Ask HN: What was your experience starting a tech consultancy?” ↗Gerald Weinberg's Secrets of Consulting is a masterful (yet whimsical) meditation on this subject. It's one of the few business books everybody should read, except it isn't really a business book, it's a people book. Much of the material is…
on “Rule of Consulting: You can’t stop people from sticking beans up their nose” ↗The Secrets of Consulting by Gerald M. Weinberg. It showed me how to deal with, and get true value out of consultants. It also helped me become a better consultant myself and scale my service to bigger projects & customers. Also…
on “Ask HN: What books have helped you make money?” ↗…pitch (practicing the skills of interviewing and marketing your skills/brand is even more important than knowing your technical stuff, the latter should be taken for granted). Gerald M. Weinberg's "The Secrets of Consulting" is excellent for anyone starting out in consulting or for those who consider hiring them (in any case your world might never be quite the same after reading this book): https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Consulting-Giving-Getting-Suc...
on “Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?” ↗…specific window on your calendar. If they don't show, I lost that time and can't get it back any other way, so to lock that day down, they have to prepay. The best resource for this kind of work is the book Secrets of Consulting by Gerald Weinburg. Can't recommend it highly enough. Feel free to ask any questions you want - I'm really transparent about the business. I'm on vacation in Amsterdam this week so my answers will be…
on “Expert Networks: A Secret World of $500 per Hour Consultations” ↗…Analysis techniques: in particular decision trees, expected value of perfect information, and good decision bad outcome BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) concept for negotiation planning "Secrets of Consulting" by Gerald M. Weinberg "Bionomics" by Michael Rothschild SimCity computer game Analysis of Competing Hypotheses methodology wiki (social process) model for small team collaborative document development…
on “Articles, Ideas, Books and/or Concepts that have changed your life” ↗…advice: set your rate so that you're happy either way. That is, not so low that you're unhappy if they say yes, and not so high that you're unhappy if they say no. Now that I think of it, get Weinberg's Secrets of Consulting and read it. It may save you all kinds of trouble. In case you don't know him, Weinberg was part of the very first generation of programmers, and later became known for his work on human factors on software…
on “Ask YC: What are the going rates for consulting gigs?” ↗The best consulting advice I got, and revisit is from Jerry Weinberg's "Secrets of Consulting". http://www.amazon.com/dp/0932633013 Highly recommended.
on “Some Consulting Wisdom I Picked Up” ↗Gerald Weinberg's book The Secrets Of Consulting IMO is a much better view of the give and take of giving business advice. Grad school has become far more popular than it used to be and a lot of people seem to promote it as worthwhile to students (paying…
on “The Management Myth (2006)” ↗Indeed. He has had a massive influence on the profession and on me personally. Secrets of Consulting is a great book and something every software person should read. It's not just about consulting. It's much more useful than that, and so entertaining that it's surprising how profound it also is. However,…
on “Programming is hard” ↗I'd add Jerry Weinberg's _Secrets of Consulting_ to the reading list. It had a major impact on my ability to turn my tech skills into a business. For example, it helped me understand that the right answer to a client request is, "Yes, I can do that.…
on “Ask HN: How do you find clients?” ↗One book I found very valuable (and discovered on another HN thread) was Gerald Weinberg's "Secrets of Consulting." That book generated lots of good ideas. If you pause at the publication date, don't. You'd be shocked how little this stuff changes, until you realize (as Weinberg explains) it's always a people problem,…
on “How I went from $100-an-hour programming to $X0,000-a-week consulting” ↗You guys are asking some interesting questions in particular about whether people feel they charge too much or not enough. The best expose on that I've seen is in Gerald Weinberg's "Secrets of Consulting" http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0932633013/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=... It's a question that's both externally determined, e.g. "What does the market bear?" and also based on someone's own perception of their…
on “Insights into the 2013 iOS Developer Survey” ↗> How did you go around to finding him? If you're going to shop around for a change agent, I recommend reading Jerry Weinberg's "Secrets of Consulting"; although this is targeted at consultants rather than their clients, it can provide useful insight into how to create an effective working partnership with one. Technical know-how doesn't by itself…
on “Pair Programming (give it a rest)” ↗