Since a lot of these ideas could send some people off on long rants (like me), I will do my best to keep it short and on the most interesting point (to me anyway).

The first law of advice "the correct advice given is the advice that is desired" is not something I necessarily agree with. Let me provide an example:

Suppose the consultant came back to the vice president saying, "spend money to do the research." That research then ended up costing $X. Now the VP has paid the consultant and paid the cost of researching the issue. If the research showed the gas was unusable, then the simplest answer offered by the consultant would have been correct. What if they advertised the color and the gas was unusable because no research was done?

I understand that there can be a lot of what ifs, but I have generally found that advice (even from the POV of a consultant) should contain at least 1 other course of action (COA) when possible. The advice only ends up being desired if it works. If the gasoline was advertised and it was unusable, then the desired advice would have been to research. It just so happened that in this particular situation that it works out.

Having been in the military for a good number of years now and been in advising positions and positions that requred advising, I will comment on law three as well. Simple advice is always the best as long as its not oversimplified to the point of changing the meaning. Clear and concise is better phrased (IMHO) than simple in this case.

I could go on forever with these, but I will just say one last thing on advice. We all know the universal law on assumptions (When you ASSUME, you make an ASS out of U and ME). That being said, I think it is also extremely important to note that, generally speaking, the "simpler" the advice, the more assumptions need to be made. This can be very dangerous in certain situations. Clear, concise, and thought through advice (with the proper questions answered and not assumed) is the best advice.

That's just my 2 cents.

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