He didn’t need to have the answers to everything; he stuck to what he called his “circle of competence,” the areas in which he was an expert. In fact, he told us that he preferred to avoid stupidity instead of trying to be intelligent.

Critically, we must keep in mind that our circles of competence extend only so far. There are boundaries on the areas in which we develop the ability to make accurate decisions. In any given situation, there are people who have a circle, who have put in the time and effort to really understand the information.

There are three key practices needed in order to build and maintain a circle of competence: curiosity and a desire to learn, monitoring,