Consulting Experts

Thank you for your comments Susan.
As I am reading them, I hear several interesting issues in your statement and question, so I probably will respond with multiple entries as I delve into the observation and question.

I actually hadn't intended to communicate that I thought consulting experts wasn't helpful. It actually was very helpful. As I think I mentioned in an email to you several months ago, I think finding good knowledge experts and advisers is critical when having to make decisions in areas you have no prior experience in. Actually, I think the selection of good experts can be critical in many cases even when you do have prior experience. The topic of how to pick good advisors is one that I have often thought would be a fruitful area to explore more thoroughly.

Since this project was in an area I had never been involved in before, it was absolutely critical to gain as much information as quickly as possible. And, because I think I have made mistakes in the past in choosing some advisers in last minute crises situations, I wanted to be particularly careful.

As I progressed in this process, I ended up talking to several people about any one topic or area. I found that different people were able to provide different perspective and knowledge on the same topic. In many cases they were instrumental in educating me about what were the important and significant parameters I need to consider in any choice.

However, particularly in the beginning, I also had to discern which experts were speaking from a more 'neutral' perspective, providing valuable information and which were providing a biases perspective, either because they wanted to sell me something or because they themselves hadn't kept up with the changes in the technology and materials. So, in a way, this became a vetting process. In addition, I had to learn what my own esthetic 'taste' was. No expert could give me that.

So I would say that consulting experts was necessary but not sufficient. No expert is going to live with the consequences of my decision making. Only I would. I found that trusting my gut and that 'nudge' or uneasiness was a valuable addition to my rational decision making. In many cases it caused me to do additional rounds of questioning and information gathering, asking nuanced questions that I hadn't asked before. Those questions opened up whole new possibilities that hadn't been presented in the first rounds of investigation. And it resulted in making choices that I am now really satisfied with and excited about living with.

I hope this is a useful clarification. If this isn't clear, or somehow I have missed your point let me know and I will add more.

I also will respond to the question in your comments that has to do with sharing information on a way or ways to access ones intuition in another entry.
Thanks Susan.
:) Patricia