next, matt called a public relations executive to air his idea of going to the press proactively to prove the company had done nothing wrong. the pr executive advised against it.

finally, matt called dr. saj-nicole joni to talk through the possible scenarios. together, they searched for analogous situations. they came up with one: firefighters who actually light fires to prevent bigger ones.

matt opted to prepare a detailed response, in case negative press coverage materialized. in other words, he got ready to fight fire with fire. fortunately for matt, there was never a reason to light it.
four signs it's time to seek a third opinion
1. i'm capable of this, but i just don't have time to think about all of it with the right amount of focus.

2. if i don't get this right, we'll be in
serious trouble.

3. even if i had the time, i shouldn't take on these issues alone.

4. i can handle this, but might i accelerate or enable significantly better results if i thought through my options with someone else?

case study

rock the boat
the third opinion is also useful for people early in their careers. take eleanor, a project manager for a software company, responsible for a product that helped small businesses with regulatory record-keeping.

eleanor had a hunch that her software, sold as a stand-alone offering, might be in trouble. other large companies sold similar software in a bundle of products that did many other things, too. why, she thought, would anybody buy her solitary software when they could get a package that allowed them to accomplish much more?

eleanor thought something needed to be done, but she didn't think her colleagues would be eager to hear her ideas. they all had a vested interest in making sure the company sold the current software; they were judged inside the company on those sales. those sales were why they all had jobs.