A second opinion may have helped.

Have you ever started a project and realized halfway through (or worse, once its “completed”) that a better design would have either saved you time or done a better job? This has happened to me countless times. Now, I try to get a second opinion, preferably from an expert, but even from a non-expert person, to validate my plans *before* starting the implementation. Often, my plans will change with someone’s opinion – and on occasion, I’ll change the entire concept, or even not do the project, due to someone’s opinion.

A single opinion is never superior to that of several. Now… often I’ll discard others opinions if I’ve already thought through their objections, but often they think in angles I haven’t, which can make the design of my [computer software, woodworking project, gift idea, paper airplane, etc…] idea better because I can adjust for the angles I didn’t consider. If you try to amend a design after implementation, it can be impossible or very difficult to change – often resulting in expensive and time-consuming workarounds, rather than a better design. Sometimes additional ideas can be easily integrated even after implementation has started – but don’t count on it! Also – it’s still a good idea to get more opinions even after starting – because maybe you CAN easily change things for the better, but it’s always best to get opinions from the start.