Around 200 BC Chinese strategist Zhuge Liang first used a sales trick still re purposed by consultants and lawyers today.

Zhuge Liang was an amateur meteorologist, and he used this fact to convince people that he could control the weather. His knowledge of meteorology was very basic, something any farmer who paid attention would have known. Nonetheless his enemies didn’t have this knowledge. So it was easy to bamboozle them.

During one battle , he realized that the wind was likely to switch direction in a manner that was highly favorable for his army.

He made sure the enemy saw him do an elaborate ceremony that looked like black magic. He kept at it until the wind changed direction. As a result his reputation as a fearsome indispensable strategist grew massively.

This was featured in the historical fiction Romance of the Three Kingdoms  . The phrase “Borrow the East Wind (借东风) refers to this story.  Its sometimes used to described taking advantage of a situation.

A bit of dancing, drumming and smoke. Zhuge Liang took basic observation skills and sold them as black magic.

Modern knowledge work

I think of this anytime I see a knowledge worker selling their work makes it look more complex than it really is.

Jargon, chartporn and powerpoint replaces dancing drumming and smoke. Or alternatively with legal and compliance work, fear of regulatory risk leads to a company paying high fees to avoid problems. Even if all that is needed is filing a simple form at the right time.

There is a risk of a similar phenomenon in any business where there is a huge knowledge gap between seller and customer.  Will the seller take advantage of that gap in a way that harms the buyer?

Honest selling

It may seem like there is one fundamental problem with this comparison: Zhuge Liang was a diplomat/military strategist. A sales call isn’t a war. Its not supposed to be adversarial!

That might actually be the problem. An honest sales process is about helping the client see the value. The battle is against any misperception not against the client. A dishonest sales process is about taking as much from the client as possible.

Zhuge Liang’s life was on the line. And warfare (against sentient opponents) is all about deception. Deceiving competitors is justifiable. But deceiving customers is not. Some businesses may feel their life is on the line, but I bet they could make a good living by reducing complexity rather than playing it up.  I know I’m willing to pay up for reduced complexity!

Meta-Game

Dealing with this issue has proved to be a major challenge in dealing with lawyers, compliance consultants and technology contractors. I’ll ask around and get quoted absurdly large price ranges for the same set of work.

I’m getting better at asking the right questions in order to see what services are really worth.

I place great value on lawyers, consultants and developers who can cut through the bullshit.