The room is always smarter than you

You may very well be the smartest person in the room, but the room collectively – the assembled and combined brains thinking about and working through a particular challenge or opportunity – will always be better, smarter and more capable than you alone.  You can dominate the discussion, perhaps with better instincts or vision or perspective than others, but you cannot match the impact of everyone contributing equally, challenging each other, building upon each other’s ideas to develop something better.

Ironically perhaps, the smartest of the smartest people in the room know this and lean into it.

Hat tip to Erick Slabaugh for inspiring this one.