Have you ever left an appointment with an expert feeling disappointed? Left with that feeling of “Really? That’s it?” Like everything you just heard was stuff you already knew and could have saved yourself a couple hundred dollars.
I almost did today. I felt that for a fleeting moment.
But then I remembered that experts can play two distinct roles.
In one they reveal new information to you that is like a key that unlocks a door. Without it you could have been fumbling in the dark for who knows how much longer before you figured it out. And their expertise and experience in knowing what you don’t know is very much what you’re paying for.
But there are other times when it’s just as valuable for an expert to close some doors, take away some options, and focus your attention on the doors right in front of you that you might have forgotten about.
It’s easy to write that off: “I already KNEW this.”
But if you knew it and weren’t taking the right action the expert’s advice is just as good as if you didn’t know in the first place.
And that’s worth its weight in gold.
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