Also, in an organization, you build strong cultures of belief that bind people together and allow them to do extraordinary things. The only problem with that is that every strong culture has a way of looking at the world that leaves things out. I worked at Microsoft, and Microsoft looks at the world through a very Microsoft-centric lens. When you're there, that's very compelling, but it isn't the whole picture.

How do you find third-opinion advisors? One of the most important functions of networking is to meet interesting thinkers who can bring perspective and insight to your work. First, look for people who have the ability to see multiple sides of a complex issue. Second, look for someone who asks great questions and listens for what isn't said as much as to what is said. Obviously, you absolutely have to have someone of the highest integrity. They have to have useful expertise and knowledge. And this sounds contradictory, but I look for people who don't offer advice.

But aren't you going to them for advice? It isn't about them saying, "Oh, I've listened to you, here's what I would do." It's about their ability to explore with you the complexities of a situation until it becomes clear to you what makes sense for you to do.

Now that you have your third-opinion people, how do you know which issues require their input? Very often, leaders I'm working with have to make a choice: Am I going to buy or sell a business; am I going to put more resources into building a certain part of my business and take them away from something else? They've looked at it themselves and they have a great team and they have tons of data. But the reality is that every single choice has positives and negatives. A great place for third-opinion work is to help people look at unintended consequences … that will clearly make one choice better than another.