Trilemma in Consulting

It is not possible to provide business advice that would be simultaneously general, accurate and simple. Why?

Accurate and generally applicable advice cannot be simple because it needs to take into account all organisations operating in various environments, which creates complexity.

Simple and accurate advice can only take place when the number of variables has been reduced, which allows for a bespoke solution.

For advice to be simplistic and comprehensive, there must be assumptions made, which in effect reduces accuracy. This is the realm of cliché, off-the-shelf and silver bullet solutions, which are prevalent in today’s business discourse.