Have you ever been in a situation where you had no idea what to do, or were stuck between two options? What did you do? Did you randomly pick an option, or did you ask for advice? I'm willing to bet that you chose the latter, especially if it was an important decision. Did you ask a friend? A relative? A stranger? Did you ask a group of people? Was asking a group of people helpful, or would it have been better to ask a single person? If you asked a single person, did you regret not asking a group? Does it really matter if you ask one person or a group of people? Yes, and I will explain why.

What are the benefits of asking multiple people for advice? What positive outcomes can come out of asking a group? To state the obvious, you get more ideas. More ideas mean more possible outcomes for your decision, and the more outcomes, the more chance that it can be a positive one. More people mean more levels of experience, and in different areas. If you want to decide whether you should become a world champion bass fisher or an accountant, you may not find someone who knows a lot about both choices, or even about you. If you ask a group, you could have the opinions of people who have experience in the fields, and people who know you and may know what to do that would most benefit you as a person. Also, have you ever asked for advice, but didn't take it? If so, if you ask a group, you will get more opinions, so you have a higher chance of liking one of them. Additionally, if you ask a single individual, they might not have an opinion or knowledge of what you are asking them. When you ask a group, there is a higher chance that one of them knows what you are talking about, and how to help you.

We have talked about some of the positives of asking a group, but what about the negatives? What could go wrong? One bad thing about asking a group for advice is that it may be hard to choose between different peoples' opinions. If you go to get ice cream with some friends and don't know which flavor to choose, if all of them give you a different opinion to which flavor is the best, you may feel torn between all of the choices that they have presented you with. To add to that, if you choose one friend's advice over the others', your other friends may feel that their opinion does not matter as much to you as the friend who's advice you took. You may also regret the advice that you took, because if pistachio ice cream is disgusting, you may feel that you could have made a better choice by taking the advice of others in the group. You may also be in a situation where the decision that you have to make is very personal, and you don't want to share it with many people. You may feel embarrassed about the advice that you have to ask, and feel that people will judge you for asking.

Why do multiple people's advice help? What if I only want one solution, and I know someone who is qualified to help me and knows a lot about my very important decision? An example as to why more heads are better than one is shown by a test that had twenty people guess the number of marbles in a big jar. Half of the people missed because they either guessed way too high or way too low. The numbers were then averaged, and the resulting number was within about twenty of the actual number of marbles in the jar! This can be applied to asking advice as well. Some people will give horrible advice. That's a fact. But if you look at other people's advice, you are more likely to see that it is bad, and go with the ones that seem great. However, if some people give bad advice, and others give really great advice that you don't want to follow, you can meet in the middle and find a great solution for you. You could also brainstorm ideas and solutions with a group, and just by mentioning a word or phrase, get someone to give great advice that you would never have thought of!

Asking an individual versus asking a group is a decision that you have to will have to make for yourself. Do you want better advice, or do you want to refrain from telling many people something embarrassing? A group can come up with many opinions and great solutions, but an individual can help you keep something confidential. There are many benefits to asking a group for advice, rather than asking a single person, but you may feel that privacy is more important than good and probably more fit advice. In conclusion, the choice is yours. You should do whatever you think is best for your situation, but you should be aware that asking the thoughts of many yields better results for very important decisions, and can help you in the long run.