And if you don’t give binary answers, people will look for someone who will! The ‘gurus’ you mention are popular because they are able to simplify problems and answers. Look at any best seller self-help book.

One answer is to continue questioning before offering the answer. Instead of saying “it depends.” perhaps you could say, “Tell me more.”

Of course, it depends. It generally does. And, of course, people want simple answers. The successful consultant or trainer is the one who can accomodate both these seemingly contradictory needs. And often the most helpful anwswer isn’t the one that convers the greatest range of possibilities but the one that leaves the questioner with a sense of empowerment.

When we answer we think people are asking for information, and they are. However, it’s helpful to remember that they are also asking, “Can I do this?”

So, even if they don’t use the hard information you provide, if the answer to the implied question is yes, you have helped. If you answer, that depends, you may actually be telling them that it is even harder than they imagined, which, while most accurate, may be least helpful.

DJ - if they don’t have the time to do a good job, they shouldn’t be there. Clients shouldn’t pay big bucks for poor work

Problem is, most IAs working for consultancies don’t get the *time* to really understand the business context *as well as* the user’s context. Also a lot of times, once they have understood the user, IAs struggle to talk the language of the business people involved.

This is where experience comes in!

So context *is* important and so is not spreading yourself too thinly across industry sectors…

DJ