In response to Clint's proposed question:

I don't know that I am the most risk-taking consultant in the history of the world. Maybe it's just because I am still pretty new at the whole consulting thing, but I guess overall I wonder how much I dare to do risky things.

I can think of one solid example, however: Tuesday I had a session with a client who wanted to brainstorm ideas for her argumentative paper. All the prompt said was "find a topic related to women and then make an argument." Not even kidding--it was so vague. We begain brainstorming and the more we started talking, the more information I found myself adding from my personal background. (Necessary background info: I am an English Major and one of my cognates (I like to think of them as mini-minors) is Women's Studies.) I shared some information, statistics, trends, etc. that I've been taught in my classes, and not only did my client appreciate it, I think it really helped her brainstorming.

I'm not saying that my personal background was crucial to the session, or that I imparted some wisdom that will now guide her to a beautiful and thoughtful thesis. Not at all. But I could have just as easily not noted some things I know about women's rights; I could have just let her talk and not helped her out to the maximum. Maybe it's wimpy, but I think it's something like a risk.

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