While “innocent until proven guilty” is not, technically, a law, it is the standard upheld by numerous constitutional amendments: a defendant must be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

My question is, “Why don’t we apply the same standard regarding competence? And—more interestingly—what might happen if we did?”

Why am I thinking about this?

I spent today with my friend, Stacy, whom I met shortly after we got our dog, Dolly.

Dolly lived in the woods for the first 6 months of her life, and to say she was a wild animal is not an exaggeration.

Given that, most of our interactions with the public were…fraught…

And people had so much advice to give me!

Stacy was the one—the only– person who began her conversation with me by asking,

“Have you had dogs before?”

Ah! The presumption of competence! Of knowledge! It endeared her to me forever as I had, in fact, 50 years of experience with dogs. 

With this in mind, I highly recommend—the next time you see someone doing something that strikes you as incomprehensible—beginning with, 

“Do you have prior experience?” (Expertise? Knowledge?”) 

Before launching into how you would do it.

You just might make a friend for life.

For more, look at, “Can You Tell Me Why You’re Doing it that Way?”