For the past month, I have had the pleasure of working with Dave Bartholomew.

Our work with Dave is still in its infancy, but it is already showing positive returns. Dave has a wealth of knowledge and experience, and it’s a fabulous opportunity for us here at Ambler.

Having Dave onboard also gives me a great opportunity to be a student again. Despite what the tone of my personal blog may suggest, I have very few answers and I enjoy being a beginner whenever possible. The person with the greatest opportunity and potential for growth is the guy or gal in the class with the least knowledge and skill.

Shockingly, not everyone sees it this way.

I make it a habit of collecting a lot of opinions before I make important decisions. I was surprised to find out much later that for some of the people I asked, they concluded that I do that because I have very little experience.

That made me smile. To me, that assumption — and the discomfort they must feel in order to ask their own questions — is a sign of someone who has never really learned anything at more than a superficial level. It reveals a dangerous sad insecurity.

The biggest waste of time in the world is reinventing the wheel. The fastest way to improve something is to re-engineer it, not start from scratch. The best way to do that is to reach out and ask someone who already knows the answer.

The funny thing about learning, I find, is that the more I understand something, the more I realize how much I have yet to learn about that same subject. The wider the door opens, the bigger the room behind it. At times it’s exhausting to think about.

Every answered question leads to ten new questions. Would I rather waste precious time, and protect my fragile ego, by brainstorming the answers myself? Or quickly confirm my suspicions by asking those who have the answers?

Get it done. And move on.

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