One of the things that “Tim” could do was to predict the future. No, he didn’t have a crystal ball. He simply could somehow see more of what was going on in the present, and create viable scenarios for the future. These scenarios were usually rather simple, just taking into account certain things that made certain events more likely. For example, he could work on a project for a couple of weeks and make a series of predictions about its success, including particular risks that were likely to come about and the results. He even predicted certain actions by different individuals.

It was uncanny. He was almost always right.

And totally, absolutely not wanted.

Because, as Douglas Adams observed, “the one thing they really couldn’t stand was a smartass.”
This is a lesson that is easily learned from the stories of the Israelite prophets. The people killed the prophets not because they had a bad track record but because they didn’t like the implications of the message. Even when they turned out right, people didn’t flock to them.

It turns out that being right is usually the wrong thing to do, because it has a nasty habit of getting you killed, fired, or sued. (There’s nothing quite like barristry to suck the life out of you.)

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