The Clarity Gap Framework

This paper introduces the Raochra Clarity Gap Framework. When clarity is not produced and maintained, both sides pay: practitioners absorb unbilled discovery, while stakeholders absorb rework and unrealized value. But by naming and managing the Clarity Gap, both sides earn a compounding return that grows with each subsequent engagement. We call this The Clarity Dividend. The framework defines five key concepts: the Clarity Gap, the Clarity Dividend, the Discovery Tax, the Client Tax, and the Bilateral Tax. We offer these as shared vocabulary for practitioners and stakeholders in professional services engagements. It draws on information economics (Akerlof's Lemons Problem, the Winner's Curse) and examines how AI accelerates the costs of unmanaged ambiguity.