The stance of ownership is as relevant at our highest-stakes moments as it is in the most everyday moments of our work. For instance, our clients often have a picture of what our work should achieve that we believe is at odds with the deeper demands we believe their goals should place on them and us. A client might be focused on a strategy document as a mechanism to reassure their board, cultivate investors or reduce friction on their team, where we might believe they face a true strategic dilemma. Taking ownership means being willing to make our clients (and ourselves) uncomfortable in order to put the essential questions on the table — and being willing to put our own interests at risk to do so, including taking the risk of being fired by the client.