
Mistaking coincidence or
correlation with causality is
the stuff of the naive, of
charlatans, and of dema-
gogues. Politicians, religious
fanatics, and consultants are
masters at this tactic.
170 THE ROI OF HUMAN CAPITAL
correctly discover a directionality in events but then assume
that something else moving in parallel must be the cause or
the effect. Mistaking coincidence or correlation with causal-
ity is the stuff of the naive, of charlatans, and of dema-
gogues. Politicians, religious fanatics, and consultants are
masters at this tactic. As a consultant friend says, ‘‘Anything
that is not provably wrong is arguably right.’’ In any system
there is variation. ...