It'd be nice if this from Bertrand Russell was remembered more: "(1) that when the experts are agreed, the opposite opinion cannot be held to be certain; (2) th

It'd be nice if this from Bertrand Russell was remembered more: "(1) that when the experts are agreed, the opposite opinion cannot be held to be certain; (2) that when they are not agreed, no opinion can be regarded as certain by a non-expert; and (3) that when they all hold that no sufficient grounds for a positive opinion exist, the ordinary man would do well to suspend his judgment." Of course, most people don't actually even see what the experts say, they just take on the belief of what one person reporting on one expert says... so you get misconceptions like http://danluu.com/dunning-kruger/ http://danluu.com/dunning-kruger/ I'd prefer if leaders focused on being good leaders and not trying to play expert or even knowledgeable-enough on technical matters that really don't concern them. A good leader will find the domain experts and drill them for critical information needed for their decision making, they don't need to understand the domain details. (And they can verify their trust with other experts.)