OK, uninformed is a bit reckless.  We don’t mean uninformed in the literal sense.  We’re speaking relatively.

What we really mean is that advice from people outside of the fields of business, investing and economics is rather helpful when making decisions that have business, economic and societal impacts.

In this spirit we queried folks working in a variety of professions and pulled from each what we believe to be the most interesting/useful answers.

STEAKHOUSE WAITER:  When your pay depends upon the ability to satisfy a customer’s demands you realize the power of incentives.

CONTRACTOR:  People claim to want expert advice but their actions suggest all they really want is advice that sounds like something an expert would say from someone who looks like an expert.

NEWSPAPER JOURNALIST:  There’s a powerfully inverse relationship between quantity and quality.  You can make a more impactful point with 10 words than you can with 1,000.

EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN:  You don’t realize how powerful communication is until your patient is incapable of talking to you.

CIVIL ENGINEER:  Building a bridge is like baking a cake.  Just follow the recipe.  Break down complex problems into simple steps.

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER:  People associate numbers with facts.  Lying is therefore easier with numbers than with words alone.

PROFESSIONAL POKER PLAYER:  It’s easier to hit singles and doubles.  They’re high probability / low payoff.  The big payoffs come from swinging for the fences.  Just don’t strikeout a lot.  You can’t win the game if you can’t stay in it.

DIETICIAN:  Solutions are often simpler than we believe.  The drug industry pushes costly solutions to health problems when simple dietary changes are equally if not more effective.  The compounding effect of small changes is enormous over time.  The problem is getting people to make changes.  Inertia can be tough to overcome.

BIOLOGIST:  Chernobyl was surely a tragedy but the rebirth of plants in the region taught us a powerful lesson.  Environments can change and the best chance at survival is the ability to adapt.

DEFENSE ATTORNEY (and former prosecutor):  Most guilty people aren’t caught the first time they commit a crime.  By the time they get caught they’ve likely committed a crime many times over.  Publicizing criminal behavior is typically the tip of the bad behavior iceberg.

LOBBYIST:  Policy isn’t driven by facts or accuracy.  It’s driven by the ability to persuade.

BEHAVIORAL PSYCHOLOGIST:  People lie when it suits them.  We’ve become remarkably good at telling untrue things to ourselves that rationalize unpleasant parts of our lives.

MILITARY PILOT:  The majority of my job is uneventful.  It’s that small sliver that’s terrifying.  It requires complex skills and a calm demeanor.