Serve by following bad advice

(Photo: Koshyk)

How it works:

  1. Someone gives you advice.
  2. You follow the advice, even if you know it’s not that great.

That’s it. But let’s unpack it.

At first, this sounds like a ridiculous idea. I wouldn’t have thought of it on my own. Instead, it came to me as a result of not taking someone’s advice because I thought I had a better idea. Afterward, I realized I probably should have gone along with the advice instead of letting my know-it-all attitude get in the way.

Looking back, the advice was still bad advice, but by disregarding it, I missed an opportunity to serve.

For instance, compare these with me…

Advantages of following bad advice

  1. Your friend feels respected because you actually took the advice.
  2. If you followup with your friend, you can share how it didn’t work (or how it did) so maybe your friend will learn from the experience.
  3. You might find out the advice really wasn’t so bad after all.

Disadvantages of following bad advice

  1. You end up following bad advice. This is the obvious disadvantage, right? But is it really so bad? In some cases, yes, it really is pretty treacherous. But after considering it a bit, I’ve started to think it’s not always that bad to follow bad advice. The worse that could happen usually isn’t that bad.
  2. Hmm… that first one is the only big one I can think of.

Look at all those advantages compared to the one disadvantage. Is it really worth it to blow off your friend’s advice? How bad would it really be if you followed the advice?

In some cases, no, you probably shouldn’t follow bad advice. But in most cases…?

I think of the time Jesus asked the disciples to throw their nets on the other side of the boat. The disciples had fished all night without catching anything. Jesus, after all, didn’t have much experience fishing. He was a carpenter. The disciples in the boats were the fish gurus. I’m sure Jesus’s advice seemed like “bad advice.”

But instead of ditching Jesus’s advice, they went ahead and tried it.

What if we did the same… not just for Jesus, but for anyone who is kind enough to try to help us?

The downside risk – the disadvantage – isn’t usually that risky. Most times you ask for (or receive) advice, it’s really not that bad or at least the results aren’t that disastrous. But the upside is fantastic because you start building trust with your friends. They’ll even start giving better advice if they know you’ll follow it.

Maybe sometimes you’ll even be pleasantly surprised at the result like the disciples were with their catch of fish.

Serving Suggestions:

(1) Think of some decision you’re trying to make or something you’re trying to do where you need help. Are you willing to fail at it in order to serve someone else?

(2) If you’re willing to give it a shot, ask for someone’s advice on how to do it.

(3) Follow the advice, even if you don’t really think it’s the best idea. Let me know what happens. Am I missing something? Are there other disadvantages I’m not considering? Is the downside worth the upside?