Decisions Under Uncertainty: When Every Option Has a Cost, Structure Becomes Courage

When every option has a cost, structure becomes courage. Management consultants rarely receive a client brief with one obviously safe choice. More often, each option carries a different mix of timing pressure, implementation burden, stakeholder resistance, dependency risk, and opportunity cost. The absence of a risk-free path does not remove the need to decide. It changes what a responsible recommendation must contain. The weak response is confidence theater: one forecast, one preferred option,…