Seek the context behind the advice to make informed decisions.

All advice is autobiographical.

Whenever you’re hearing advice from someone, there’s a lot of hidden background information. Dig out the context to figure out whether that advice is A/B tested and would apply to you or not.

Let’s say you’re working in a company and looking to join a startup.

Your startup friends advise you to go for it. But wait! Probe deeper. Have they worked in a company before? If not, they probably don’t have much context on your current state. Someone who hasn’t been on the other side can’t give you the full picture.

Avoid absolutes. Seek relative information.

Actively seek out folks who have been in both places. They can empathize with you a lot better. Seek out someone who was in a company and switched to a startup and vice versa to see if there’s any mismatch in their advice. Get diverse perspectives.

Options and choices reveal real preferences.

Don’t take advice from someone who didn’t have an option to switch else you hear grapes are sour. Pay more attention to people who would do something differently if given a chance of redoing it.