What Does Bad Advice Look Like?

2020-10-30 12:00

How can you identify when someone feels the need to offer advice, even if they have nothing of value to offer? Or, how can you identify when someone thinks they have something of value to offer but doesn't realize how unhelpful it is? Lastly, how can you identify when a piece of advice truly is a good one? In this spirit, I'd like to offer five angles that one can use to evaluate whether a piece of advice is good or bad. 1.

What does the person giving the advice stand to gain from the situation? What possible reasons could a person have for giving you a particular piece of advice? What do you stand to lose from implementing the advice? What risk are you taking by listening to the advice?

If advice comes to you in a convoluted manner, through a stream of consciousness, and in a way that is difficult to make sense of, it's usually a sign that the advice is questionable.

Does the story keep changing? Are there important details that seem to be in flux? Does the background around the information used as a base for the advice seem to vary from time to time? These are all indications that the advice, and the person behind it, may not be transparent.

So what is my advice to you? Listen to my father's advice - it has served me well.

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