Reader situation
You need advice, so you look for “an expert in marketing” or “someone who knows AI.” Broad labels lead to broad conversations. The person you find may know a great deal about the subject and still have little experience with the specific decision you face.
Central idea
The right expertise depends on your question, your context and the decision you face. Define the experience you need before you approach anyone, so the conversation reaches practical knowledge rather than general opinion.
Practical steps
- Decision or question. Write down the decision you are trying to make or the question you need answered. “Should we hire our first salesperson now or in six months?” is more useful than “I need sales advice.”
- Relevant context. Note the factors that shape the answer: your industry, company size, stage, region, budget, team and any deadlines. Context determines whose experience applies, and it’s often the part people leave out.
- Experience required. Describe the experience that would help most. Have they made this exact decision? Seen it go wrong? Worked in a similar setting? Someone who hired the first salesperson at a 20-person software company may be more useful to you than a sales director at a global firm.
- Constraints. Name the limits on your options: budget, time, regulation, existing commitments. A good adviser needs to know what is fixed and what is open.
- Signs of a useful match. Decide in advance what would tell you someone is a good fit. Signs include having faced a similar situation recently, working in a comparable context and being willing to explain their reasoning, not only their conclusion.
Worked example
Fictional example
Nadia runs a 15-person design agency. Her first thought is to find “an operations expert.” After working through the steps, she writes:
I need to decide whether to move our team to a four-day week. We’re a 15-person agency with client deadlines that don’t move. I’d most like to talk to someone who has run a four-day week in a client-service business of a similar size, ideally someone who has tried it for at least six months.
The new description rules out many general experts and points to the people most likely to help. It also tells Nadia what to ask first when she finds someone: how long they ran it, in what kind of business and what they would do differently.
Boundaries
- Defining the expertise you need doesn’t mean the expert will make the decision for you. The judgment remains yours.
- Some questions need a qualified professional, such as a lawyer or accountant, rather than peer experience.
- Be open to adjusting your definition. An early conversation may show that you need different experience than you thought.
One action to try with a professional peer
Write a three-sentence description of the expertise you need for a current decision. Share it with a colleague and ask who they would suggest you talk to.
Discussion prompt
Have you ever received advice that was expert but didn’t fit your situation? What was missing?
