Peter Block is an author, consultant and citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. His work is about empowerment, stewardship, chosen accountability, and the reconciliation of community.

Peter is the author of several best-selling books. The most widely known are Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used (1st edition 1980, 2nd edition 1999); Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest (1993) and The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work (1987). Peter is the recipient of the first place 2004 Members’ Choice Award by the Organization Development Network, which recognized Flawless Consulting as the most influential book for OD practitioners over the past 40 years.

Peter's latest book, Community: The Structure of Belonging, will be in bookstores May 2008.

He has also authored Flawless Consulting Fieldbook & Companion: A Guide to Understanding Your Expertise (2000). The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters (Berrett-Koehler, 2002) won the 2002 Independent Book Publisher Book Award for Business Breakthrough Book of the Year. Freedom and Accountability at Work: Applying Philosophic Insight to the Real World was co-authored with consultant and philosopher Peter Koestenbaum (Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2001).

The books are about ways to create workplaces and communities that work for all. They offer an alternative to the patriarchal beliefs that dominate our culture. His work is to bring change into the world through consent and connectedness rather than through mandate and force.

Flawless Consulting is about having impact when you have no direct control and has become a classic for anyone in a consulting role. The Empowered Manager focuses on creating an organization of our own choosing. Stewardship is about the right use of power and designing organizations for service. The Answer to How Is Yes is about giving priority to what matters over what simply works.

He is a partner in Designed Learning, a training company that offers workshops designed by Peter to build the skills outlined in his books. He received a Masters Degree in Industrial Administration from Yale University in 1963; he performed his undergraduate work at the University of Kansas.

Peter serves on the Boards of Directors of Cincinnati Classical Public Radio, Elementz and InkTank. He is on the Advisory Board for the Festival in the Workplace Institute, Bahamas. He is the first Distinguished Consultant-in-Residence at Xavier University.

As a citizen of Cincinnati, he is currently involved in projects focusing on people on the margin and supports the Urban Opportunities Alliance, a cooperative group of six efforts to value the possibility of youth and families in Cincinnati. With other volunteers, Peter began A Small Group, whose work is to bring into conversation other groups not in relationship with each other, through the powerful tools of civic engagement.

He has received national awards for outstanding contributions in the field of training and development, including the American Society for Training and Development Award for Distinguished Contributions; the Association for Quality and Participation President’s Award; and Training Magazine HRD Hall of Fame.

Peter's office is in Mystic, Connecticut. He welcomes being contacted at pbi@att.net. 

 

 

 
   
Maggie Rogers often describes herself as the "Inc" of Peter Block Inc. When you call the office, Maggie is the one who answers the phone. She schedules Peter’s speaking engagements and coordinates the logistics, arranges his travel, handles the invoicing and pays the bills. Maggie also manages special projects and does what it takes to keep Peter organized. You might have heard Maggie say "I have the best job in the universe." And she means it!

A friend shared this Emile Zola poem with her, which has become her maxim:

If you asked me what
I came into this world to do,
I will tell you:
I came to live out loud.

  
   
Marie A Carija is a graphic designer. Her studio, MAC Integral Design, is located in Mystic. She enjoys Peter's ideas and creative vision, and the process of working with Peter and Maggie. Her background includes a degree in Comparative Literature from Indiana University, extensive training in art and design, and life-long inner work. She is interested in bringing peoples' and organizations' words and ideas into forms that communicate their core truth.