How much do you know about everything?
OK, how much do you know about a few things?
Stop and ponder what you know vs. what you don't. Then consider how you'd get along if you needed good information on topics outside your comfort zone.
As President Woodrow Wilson once said, "I not only use all the brains I have but all that I can borrow."
I would add, "And all that I can buy, if necessary."
I preach the importance of building a network of experts before you need one so that they are there when you do. Whether it's a surgeon, Realtor, auto mechanic or a master salesperson, I want the best. And I will return the favor whenever I can, whether it's business advice, a reference or tickets to an event.
But let me make this very clear: I also rely on my instincts, because, eventually, it all comes back to me. I weigh the information I receive from others and make the best judgment I can. I try to retain as much information from my experts as I can. You never know when it will come in handy.
Carl Ally, founder of Ally & Gargano, one of the 20th century's most successful advertising agencies, said: "The creative person wants to be a know-it-all. He wants to know about all kinds of things: ancient history, 19th-century mathematics, current manufacturing techniques, flower arranging and hog futures. Because he never knows when these ideas might come together to form a new idea."
