This week a friend of mine — serial entrepreneur, super successful, massively well connected and incredibly smart — met with me for lunch. He told me that he’s writing a book and that he needs my help writing it; that he wants to bounce off ideas and hear my thoughts.
I was pretty surprised. He’s clearly smarter than I am. He has spent significantly more time thinking about the topic he’s writing about than I did. He pretty much knows everyone — which includes a good chunk of people who I would consider much better versed in the topic than I am.
So I asked.
Turns out that my friend does what everyone of us should do all the time: He realized that by collaborating with people, discussing his ideas, throwing stuff out there and seeing what sticks and by deeply listening to what others have to say — his own ideas become stronger and stronger. He sees connections he couldn’t see before. He learns about nuances which he would have not known or dismissed.
Put yourself and your ideas out there. Ask and talk to as many people as you can — it will make your ideas better, your project stronger and you smarter.