Agree. And on top of this, there's a value to predictability. If I go to my boss and ask permission to spend $10,000 to save $20,000, they can OK that pretty ea

Agree. And on top of this, there's a value to predictability. If I go to my boss and ask permission to spend $10,000 to save $20,000, they can OK that pretty easily since it's simple math... they spend money and save more, so the purchase makes sense. When I go to them and say I want to hire a consultant for $200/hour in order to do a project that'll save $20k, suddenly the math is more complicated... how many hours is this person going to work? What if they go over? People pay more for assurance and predictability.