If you want to succeed, having smart, independent thinking people around you is essential. Don t always trust the experts. It s always important to listen to the experts, check their data, but don t be afraid to hold their ideas up against common sense, to challenge their assumptions. Experts rarely hold a franchise on wisdom. Asking dumb questions can often be the most important part of the decision-making process.
Good ideas can come from anywhere.
Politicians spend a lot of time trying to figure out what voters really want, and then they spend even more time trying to convince those same voters that they are the only ones who will give it to them. It sounds simple, but for many people running for office, it can get quite complicated pollsters, focus groups, opinion surveys, television ads. During my campaign for governor, I met a man in Northern Maine who offered more wisdom than a thousand pollsters. Understand that the people who have the keenest insight into your organization hold the lower level jobs. You can talk to your chief of staff or vice president for an hour to find out what s going on, or you can spend five minutes with the receptionist to really find out what s going on.