Deb Castillo

Think about the new patient/client dental examination, co-diagnosis and review of findings process as consulting with a patient about their dental health. Bob Barkley and Carl Rogers are probably chuckling with pleasure about how their work is being applied.

Deb Castillo, a practice management consultant, reflects on her career in dental consulting. It applies to your dental practice!

Tuesdays with ISOC - Periodically past popular ISOC articles will be published on Tuesdays. ISOC has many new members who have not read these articles and for existing members it is a chance to re-read interesting, important articles.

I have grown to see successful consulting as a collaborative process. At the start of my consulting career I saw my self as a change agent. One who would and could "unfreeze" non-working systems or behaviors of a practice and then teach and "refreeze" new more effective behaviors to create a steady productive environment. The skills necessary for me to be effective were:

1. Proper diagnosis 2. Training 3. Implementation 4. Feedback

The flaw in seeing consulting in this light is that I, as the Super Consultant, really did not have control! There are no levers I can push, no switches I can throw …to shift and change behaviors in a lasting manner. The longer I continued to hold onto this belief -- the more I would set my client, the practice and myself up for failure. I had to find another way --another conclusion. I have come to believe that success does not always beget success -- often failure is the greater stimuli for success.

What I seemed to find as I worked with my practices is that the key to my success as a consultant was dependant on paying attention to what "enlivens" the people involved! What excites and engages those that are in the practice so that they make the commitment to change? So what skills are necessary here? What did I have to learn so that my clients would make me look good?

Learn to perturb and disturb the status quo--make those involved uncomfortable with their current reality.

Learn to be enough like those with whom I am working with to be accepted by the group and, therefore, credible.

Learn to be enough unlike those with whom I am working with to bring a different perspective and different opinion: a different point of view.

If my goal is to unleash the full potential of those with whom I am working, then I must master the four D's:

• Develop the relationship • Discover the assumptions • Design the structure • Deploy the follow up


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