Advise...

 

Are you aware of the danger of giving advice? 

Most people claim to want input, claim that they try to hire people smarter than they are.  But in fact, many if not most people are more motivated to preserve their self-esteem. 

Every time you offer an idea, you may well make them feel less than. 

Ironically, the better your idea, the more inferior they feel and thus the more likely to distance themselves from you in favor of people who make them feel better about themselves.

Humans are not computers that means defaulting to:

• Phrasing advice as a question and in a face-saving way, for example, “I’m wondering if an alternative approach might be X. What do you think?” And when they yes-but you, even if irrationally, the most you can usually do is to take one more crack at it, providing new information to justify a new decision.
• Realizing that no matter how tactful, every time you offer an idea, especially one that one-ups someone else’s idea, you pay a price.  
• Where possible, give someone else credit for at least part of the idea.  
• Providing your ideas in writing. That gives recipients time to diffuse their defensiveness. It's particularly wise to put your idea in writing when you have an idea during a meeting. Offering it in the meeting risks turning off a number of people.