The EvaluSys Engagement Readiness Assessment™ is a highly unique business evaluation, released on EvaluSys in January 2022. Designed by Dr. Larry Gard, a long-time clinical psychologist and consultant, the evaluation is designed to help advisors and prospective clients identify individual characteristics that may impact their working relationship and contribute to the success of the project.
EvaluSys Business Advisor members are able to license the Engagement Readiness Assessment today for use with their clients.
In March 2026, Dr. Gard and EvaluSys CEO Tom Bixby released a new book, "The Ambivalence Paradox: Working With Clients Who Want Your Help But Simultaneously Resist It". The book explores a familiar but often misunderstood dynamic: clients who genuinely want help yet simultaneously resist moving forward. Larry brings decades of insight into why this happens and, more importantly, how advisors can address it through better conversations. Many of the ideas in this book informed the development of the Engagement Readiness Assessment™.
If you’ve worked as an advisor or consultant for any length of time, you’ve surely experienced client engagements that started off strong then inexplicably ground to a halt. The client appeared enthusiastic, invested, and ready to make changes, and then they retreated. Welcome to the all-too-human phenomenon of ambivalence. As much as clients want our help, there is often a part of them that resists doing things differently.
Whenever a client is investing significant time, energy, and resources in a transformational project, ambivalence can get triggered. Ignoring it doesn’t work, but neither does criticizing it. The authors, one a seasoned business advisor and the other a retired psychologist, wrote this book to help you better understand and respond to ambivalence as it arises within the context of an advisory relationship.