For many people, both in and out of business, one of the hardest things to do is listening to experts. Why? Because experts generally give advice that runs contrary to what people want to hear. Experts are not always right, but their opinions are worth consideration, especially if all you have to go on is a gut feeling.

There are two television shows where people generally ignore the experts to their own detriment. On Cops, as police officers try to sort out circumstances, they continually tell people, Sit down and be quiet. But as Blue Collar comic Ron White says about his own arrest, I had the right to remain silent . . . I just didnt have the ability. On Cops, people ignore police advice, even after several warnings and are finally hauled off to jail.

On the antique show Bargain Hunt, David Cheap as Chips Dickinson provides two separate teams with two hundred pounds and an expert. The teams then have an hour to roam around a flea market and purchase two or three items, which are sold at auction a week later. The team that makes the most money gets to keep the profit. However, there usually isnt very much profit because the teams dont listen to their experts all that much.

On a recent episode the two women of the Blue Team came up with a childs chair. The expert suggested a different childs chair for about the same price of 20 pounds. The experts chair was from the previous century, had turned rather than straight supports, and had some worn spots that gave the chair character. The Blue Team chose the one they found rather than the experts find, because they liked it.

Next the team came back with a metronome, which wasnt that old and made odd sounds. The expert voiced disapproval and gave his reasons. His opinion was ignored. Finally, the Blue Team approved the purchase of a wooden collection box the expert suggested for only 11 pounds. I think the Blue Team approved it because they felt guilty. The expert seemed relieved.

The Red Team didnt take all of their expert advice either, but they listened enough to make a 24 pound profit. The Blue Team made a profit of 14 pounds, which mostly came from the experts collection box. The box sold of 28 pounds, making a whopping profit of 17 pounds, but that wasnt enough to offset the Blue Teams combined loses with the childs chair and the metronome.

When given expert advice, the first thing we need to do is listen. The second thing to do is evaluate. If an experts opinion runs completely against what we want to do, then we should consider changing our opinions. We should remain silent and make our final decisions based on facts and reasoning, not on our hopes and feelings.