Damn, just had a magnitude 5 insight that explains nearly 100% of my success/failure pattern in consulting. I think I can finally put together my full theory of (indie) consulting.
Conversation
See, there are 2 kinds of consulting clients:
1. Confident people who want to pay for systematic doubt
2. Doubtful people who want to pay for systematic confidence.
I’m so bad at serving latter, if I could reliably detect them up front, I’d run away every time.
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This is confirmation bias and buyers remorse, isn’t it? Also placebo and nocebo?
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It can be if that's what both parties want it to be. It need not be if either party is serious.

