Peter Block has been an organization development consultant since 1966. During the first 25 years, he was a partner with Tony Petrella, Marvin Weisbord, and Jim Maselko in the consulting firm of Designed Learning, Inc., in Plainfield, New Jersey.

In 1981, Peter wrote Flawless Consulting, a book about how to function in a staff capacity with maximum impact and leverage. Flawless Consulting became the basis for Designed Learning's staff consulting skills workshops, which are designed for engineers, systems people, personnel professionals, and others in the staff role.

Since the mid-1960s, Peter's work has been to foster the idea of empowerment and the hope it offers to people in organizations. The Empowered Manager attempts to integrate and crystallize that effort. Designed Learning currently offers a workshop based on the concepts presented in this book. For information on the workshop or consulting efforts to implement these ideas, contact designedlearning.com.

His work now is to bring these ideas into the civic space of community and economic restoration.

Peter received his bachelor's degree in industrial management from the University of Kansas and his master's degree in organizational behavior from Yale University. He and his wife, Cathy, now reside in Cincinnati, Ohio.