[HN Gopher] Seeking advice in startups - a framework built on ma...
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       Seeking advice in startups - a framework built on mastery and
       method
        
       Author : tmatthewj
       Score  : 42 points
       Date   : 2021-07-05 16:06 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (nuances.substack.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (nuances.substack.com)
        
       | tibbetts wrote:
       | I would tend to flip the value of reflective novices and
       | prescriptive masters. Or rather, I'm often successful with advice
       | from reflective people who have minimal mastery. Like, I'll take
       | reflective advice from an entrepreneur who has only ever sold one
       | company over prescriptive advice from a banker who has sold
       | dozens. In particular, the prescriptive advisor often not only
       | makes flawed assumptions about your situation, but also about
       | your goals. Someone who is good at reflective advice can be good
       | at it even in unfamiliar situations.
       | 
       | I try to be a reflective advisor, and it's interesting how often
       | people coming to me for advice want prescriptive and push in that
       | direction. In fact this article just made me realize i mad that
       | mistake just last week, giving prescriptive advice without really
       | understanding the situation, because they leaned on areas where I
       | identify as having deep expertise.
        
         | tmatthewj wrote:
         | I hear your rationale to flip the rating for novice-reflective
         | and expert-prescriptive advisors. In fact that's how I started
         | putting the framework together.
         | 
         | However after talking to a few founders and reflecting on my
         | own experiences I felt there is more value in having an expert
         | in the domain - considering the benefit of contextual stories
         | you get to hear from them on how they handled similar
         | situations. I just feel the merit of this experience though
         | from a prescriptive advisor wins narrowly over the merits of
         | being with a novice advisor even if the person has a reflective
         | method. But I can imagine situations that warrant a scoring
         | like what you suggested. I just hope people who read this note
         | can try and be aware of these aspects to enrich their intuition
         | when choosing advisors.
        
       | the_arun wrote:
       | Do these prescriptive advisors know what they are doing wrong and
       | improve their style? OR do they often think they are doing great?
        
       | loneranger_11x wrote:
       | tl;dr: order by mastery desc, method desc - when looking for
       | advisors
        
       | kfarr wrote:
       | This is excellent advice (am I being too prescriptive?). Don't be
       | fooled by the simplicity of this post, it's very easy to get lost
       | in personalities and other red herrings but an expert who is
       | willing to take the time to reflect on a problem with you is rare
       | and golden.
        
         | tmatthewj wrote:
         | Agree with you. Very few expert advisors can fight the urge to
         | impose their solutions (prescribe), and give time to reflect on
         | the problem with you.
        
       | saleheen wrote:
       | Great advice. Thanks for sharing
        
         | tmatthewj wrote:
         | Glad you liked it.
        
       | tmatthewj wrote:
       | This is built on the notion of wicked environment defined by
       | psychologist Robin Hogarth, and which was popularised by David
       | Epstein in his book Range.
        
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       (page generated 2021-07-05 23:01 UTC)