This piece reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Neil Gaiman:
“Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”
Advice is great, but you've got to filter it and get to the root question it suggests for it to be most useful.
Thanks, Marc - these are great thoughts. Thoroughly agree that 'advice' can be so misleading - especially if it includes the word "impossible" (although that's kinda useful when it provokes a stubborn reaction - "oh YEAH? *rolls up sleeves* OK then, let's find out how just wrong you are.").
I guess it's about what your definition of "advice" is. Thanks to paying attention to some very curious and open-minded folk, I got it into my head pretty early that online advice was really just someone chucking ideas at you, *not* telling you what's definitely going to work. But that latter definition is what so many of us hear and desperately search for - myself included, for way too long. And it really gets in the way of our own context-driven instincts, and stops us owning and learning from our own mistakes properly. I guess it's fear of uncertainty? But uncertainty is the exact same thing as possibility - which is the place where new "rules" get made...
Love this perspective of advice as a menu from which you get to choose. It's sort of like getting a better understanding about the range of options rather than *the* option you should pick.
As an elderly female leader, people often try to push me in their direction. Also agree Mike all I need to hear is “impossible “ and I’m off and running 🏃. Have a great rest of this week. Doc.
This piece reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Neil Gaiman:
“Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”
Advice is great, but you've got to filter it and get to the root question it suggests for it to be most useful.
Thanks, Marc - these are great thoughts. Thoroughly agree that 'advice' can be so misleading - especially if it includes the word "impossible" (although that's kinda useful when it provokes a stubborn reaction - "oh YEAH? *rolls up sleeves* OK then, let's find out how just wrong you are.").
I guess it's about what your definition of "advice" is. Thanks to paying attention to some very curious and open-minded folk, I got it into my head pretty early that online advice was really just someone chucking ideas at you, *not* telling you what's definitely going to work. But that latter definition is what so many of us hear and desperately search for - myself included, for way too long. And it really gets in the way of our own context-driven instincts, and stops us owning and learning from our own mistakes properly. I guess it's fear of uncertainty? But uncertainty is the exact same thing as possibility - which is the place where new "rules" get made...
Anyway. I'm rambling. Thanks for this!
Love this perspective of advice as a menu from which you get to choose. It's sort of like getting a better understanding about the range of options rather than *the* option you should pick.
Thanks again, Marc -
So insightful. Josh, super quote share.
As an elderly female leader, people often try to push me in their direction. Also agree Mike all I need to hear is “impossible “ and I’m off and running 🏃. Have a great rest of this week. Doc.