I find many academics to be very bright and totally clueless. It's easy to be both. Common sense is not a criteria for getting into academia... indeed it may well be a detriment. One of the strengths of our firm (not in the planning area obviously) is that we use academics (in small doses, when helpful) but most of our team are people who live and work in the real world.....and can thus translate the academese into something useful!Original Post Deleted