Never be the smartest person in the room

[Carl Schmitt]

Like the title says, I've always heard that you should never be the smartest person in the room. I think a lot of people, myself included, tend to over think things and good opportunities slip past them. So my question would be, do you think it's better to hold off making any purchases until you feel you know a lot about everything? Or does it make sense to learn the basics of the business and then surround yourself with experts in there particular field? To use myself as an example, my strength is sales and working with people. I have done construction work in high school, but its not my specialty and I really don't like it, so does it make sense for me to wait until I know more of the ins and outs of construction? I'd argue my time would be better spent finding and negotiating deals and leaving the construction to the experts...thoughts?

[Bill Gulley]

In this business you need competence, you'll gain expertise with a high degree of comptence but you may not be the smartest guy in the room. Then there are many very smart people who may be incompetent. Smart people should gain competence quicker than others and never specialize to gain expertise. And, ther are many smart people who are very competent and gain expertise.

A wise man knows when to keep his mouth shut and listen. There are times when you should command the situation with your competence and expertise, it depends on who is in the room. Then there are times when it's best to allow someone else to be the smartest person in the room. Wisdom is knowing the difference.