A book doesn’t come out of thin air. The invitation to write this book came from Darren Reed and Karen Shield of Wiley-Blackwell following the modest success of the first book we produced together. I was delighted to oblige. It has taken a year longer than we originally hoped, and their response when I had to divert my attention to various family matters was so graciously supportive that I truly felt I could take the time it took.
This book is built on the work of so many other people: people I’ve read, people I’ve talked to, and people I’ve worked with. I have made every effort to acknowledge the original researchers and practitioners whose work I have called upon. On the other hand, I have granted my clients the cloak of anonymity in an attempt to protect their reputation, if not my own, and so trust that they are only recognizable to themselves. That they allow me and people like me to come into their organizations and workplaces and “do creative things” with their people is a wonderful privilege and I am eternally grateful to them all. Practitioners, like trainee doctors, have to start somewhere, and so even further back in the midst of time are all my earliest clients from whom I learnt so much about the art of engaging productively with organizations. I thank them all.
On a more practical level, at the behest of the publisher, this time I have written every word of this text myself, quotes excluded. It’s a lot of words! Jem Smith, my eldest son, has been much involved of late, spotting the convoluted sentences and esoteric modes of expression in a last-ditch attempt to improve its reader-friendliness. He is also helping with assembling the references and spotting those typos that fool the spellchecker. In addition, he kindly lets me know about any boring bits so I can have another go at making them more interesting. He has done all within his power to ensure that you find this a readable read; thus liability for any sleep-inducing sections and other errors that have slipped through are to be laid at my door alone. I am truly grateful for his help.
In turn our efforts have been ably supported by Giles Flitney, whose attention to detail as copy-editor was exemplary: no fudge of referencing or “near enough is good enough” laziness of expression got past his eagle eyes and sharp brain. To Giles must go the credit for clearing the way of the last stumbles and trip-ups so that the meaning could flow freely through the text.
And last but not least, I want to thank my husband, Stewart Smith, who, ploughing through text about a world to which he is not connected except through me, managed to spot a variety of opportunities for a joke or a laugh that he could shape into a cartoon. Of itself this book isn’t a bundle of laughs; his ability to spot such opportunities as arise is a true talent. We are all extremely grateful for the light relief thus provided.