Letter W: If you can get really good at destroying your own Wrong ideas, that is a great gift – Charles Munger

This is a critical success factor in sourcing. Often the contract will contain a clause which, over the life-cycle of the relationship, will significantly disadvantage one side. This is unhealthy in any relationship and so it is important that both parties are prepared to make changes to maintain balance and fairness.


This aphorism is linked to ‘A, B, and G’.

Letter V: Never confuse a clear View with a short distance – Paul Saffo

This is the aphorism I use to describe IT projects. We know the outcome, the budget and the timeline. Yet, in IT there is a chronic inability to reliability meets these criteria.

IT Projects and the Wise CxO
For IT projects expect to pay 3/4 more, expect to wait twice a long, and expect to get only 2/3 of what you asked for.

But wait there’s more!
If the project does something non-standard then ensure you have provisioned Y-o-Y maintenance costs in the business case.