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If you know one (of anything), that's it: You know one. But if you know two, you know much, much more than two. With two computer languages, not only do you know both languages, but you also know what makes them similar, what makes them different, what you like best and least about each, and how each is better suited for certain tasks.

Call it the "epiphany of multiples." I'm not a linguist or a musician, but I have been told by those who are that the same miracle holds true in these fields: Learning your second language or instrument opens a door to learning multiple languages or instruments more easily than the first or the second.

Similarly, consultants have often worked in many companies, countries, industries, functional areas or technologies. This wide-ranging exposure has given them the perspective that can generate valuable innovations. This perspective, in turn, helps them tackle challenges or realize opportunities that would be overlooked by someone with twice the experience but without the epiphany of multiples.

Many management fashions' advocates look around for examples of corporate practice that seem to work, and then sum up the "lessons learned," with all the carelessness and arrogance that comes with intuitive philosophizing - instead of asking, in some robust theoretical way, why these principles would work and others would not.