[mindcrime]

And when speaking to the decision-makers, discuss the trade-offs and/or offer options.

Yes, exactly. I should have said something about that in my little mini-rant above, but I ran out of time or lost my train of thought. That's it in a nutshell though... be able to talk about the relative advantages and disadvantages of various options, and - more specifically - do so in the context of what serves the long-term interests of the business.