The 2x2 captures three possible good answers to the question how do you know the important things you think you know?Through fiction, through simulation, and through thick description (a fancy word for anthropology). None of these is science, but all of them are valuable modes of knowing.

This is often the case in consulting. The execution skill is often either trivial or available in-house in the client organization. The entire value lies in knowing which nut to tighten.

Knowing which nut to tighten to resolve a mysterious noise is a simple example of a knowledge asymmetry. In this case, the knowledge was everything. The mechanic didn’t bring any execution skills to the party. He could have consulted on which nut to tighten for $49.90 and the customer could have done the execution themselves, saving $0.10.

Think of this as the difference between riding a bicycle and sailing a sailboat. A bicycle in a state of balance is upright except when taking corners. But a sailboat might lean strongly in one direction or the other, depending on the direction of the prevailing wind and the direction you need to go. As this war of ideas unfolds, you want to be a

The tell of the Integrator in Need is endemic mental health issues across activities. There is too much anxiety. There are communication problems everywhere. Relationships are fraying all over the place. Morale is plummeting.

The tell of the Achiever in Need is energy being dissipated in random acts of X where they are thrashing and improvising behaviors in an area where skilled and disciplined behavioral precedents exist. Marketing is a function that is particularly prone to this.

The Explorer Organization tends to be future-oriented and is likely to have people or departments devoted to activities such as scenario planning, futures, and market modeling (often called strategy operations). Explorer organizations hungrily consume forecasts and trend information, as well as historical analyses and industry reports. They believe

The Tester is a client who wants to build systematic doubt at an inner-world locus. They do this by constantly testing their thinking, questioning their assumptions about themselves, and introspecting on their actions. Don’t mistake all the testing for an empiricist or exploratory orientation though. The Tester is primarily looking for meaning in a

The Integrator is a client who wants to build systematic confidence at an inner-world locus. Whether or not they choose to explicitly acknowledge it, they look for an element of therapy or life coaching in their relationships with consultants they hire. Whatever the nominal subject—better relationships at work, faster time to market, improved sales