By "planning decision" I mean to use this knowledge to make a decision which is more likely to lead to a successful project. Sorry, still not clear to me what

By "planning decision" I mean to use this knowledge to make a decision which is more likely to lead to a successful project. Sorry, still not clear to me what you mean. Please clarify. Consider the converse to your statement: It can sometimes be advantageous to spend all your time learning as much as possible about the way things are normally done while approaching the job from your own strengths and knowledge. Nope. The converse of what I said would be: It can sometimes be advantageous to spend all your time learning as much as possible about the way things are normally done before trying to contribute to projects. "you may delay contributing if you wait until you reach that status before trying" Certainly. However, contributing is also an important part of learning, and you are unlikely to get to expert status if you delay in contributing. Yes, exactly. Fits with what I'm saying. I'm sure you'll have something to say, so I'll leave you to have the last say. Thanks for the discussion.