e yourself if their advice or techniques fail. Generally, if you did exactly what they instructed you to do, and you didn’t get the intended result, IT'S THEIR FAULT. Don’t let them off the hook. Get them to re-do it, as mentioned above, or to refund your money. If you suffered a large loss as a result of their incompetence, seek the help of a competent attorney.

(3) Get another opinion, but don’t expect the next practitioner to be a panacea, or even competent. He

One of the problems we have when we interact with professionals, whether they’re architects, doctors, lawyers, or accountants, is the fact that we never quite know enough to know when THEY don’t know enough.

We can spin our wheels, wasting time and money, and suffer even worse outcomes if we deal with the WRONG professionals.

Divorces and dissolutions of business partnerships can go on for years instead of months.

Our medical maladies can be misdiagnosed, and what was curable, or at least manageable, could rage out of control with the passage of time due to wrong or incomplete treatment.

Important deadlines can be missed because some professionals have substance abuse, financial, or family issues of their own that are hopelessly distracting them.

That architect who had his structural engineer assess your property for sturdiness might have miscalculated, and when the next earthquake or windstorm comes along, you’ll learn just how devastating his error was.

That accountant, or CPA who attends a one-day seminar, suddenly decides to bill himself as a “Wealth Consultant,” when most of his friends, neighbors, and family members know something you don’t.

He couldn’t pick a winning stock or investment if his life depended on it.

So, how can the rest of us get a clue that a professional is way out of his depth, that he or she is incompetent?

Remember these six tip-offs:

(1) Don’t trust smooth talk; trust results. If he hasn’t been delivering the goods, put his feet to the fire. When my ear infection wasn’t cleared-up by the EYE MEDICINE my ear specialist prescribed, I was on his case right away, expressing displeasure. At first, the nurse tried to put off my next appointment, and I insisted I couldn’t hear—get me in, now! She did, he blasted my ear with a powder that tasted lousy, but it worked.

(2) Don’t blame yourself if their advice or techniques fail. Generally, if you did exactly what they instructed you to do, and you didn’t get the intended result, IT'S THEIR FAULT. Don’t let them off the hook. Get them to re-do it, as mentioned above, or to refund your money. If you suffered a large loss as a result of their incompetence, seek the help of a competent attorney.

(3) Get another opinion, but don’t expect the next practitioner to be a panacea, or even competent. He

ed, and what was curable, or at least manageable, could rage out of control with the passage of time due to wrong or incomplete treatment.

Important deadlines can be missed because some professionals have substance abuse, financial, or family issues of their own that are hopelessly distracting them.

That architect who had his structural engineer assess your property for sturdiness might have miscalculated, and when the next earthquake or windstorm comes along, you’ll learn just how devastating his error was.

That accountant, or CPA who attends a one-day seminar, suddenly decides to bill himself as a “Wealth Consultant,” when most of his friends, neighbors, and family members know something you don’t.

He couldn’t pick a winning stock or investment if his life depended on it.

So, how can the rest of us get a clue that a professional is way out of his depth, that he or she is incompetent?

Remember these six tip-offs:

(1) Don’t trust smooth talk; trust results. If he hasn’t been delivering the goods, put his feet to the fire. When my ear infection wasn’t cleared-up by the EYE MEDICINE my ear specialist prescribed, I was on his case right away, expressing displeasure. At first, the nurse tried to put off my next appointment, and I insisted I couldn’t hear—get me in, now! She did, he blasted my ear with a powder that tasted lousy, but it worked.

(2) Don’t blame yourself if their advice or techniques fail. Generally, if you did exactly what they instructed you to do, and you didn’t get the intended result, IT'S THEIR FAULT. Don’t let them off the hook. Get them to re-do it, as mentioned above, or to refund your money. If you suffered a large loss as a result of their incompetence, seek the help of a competent attorney.

(3) Get another opinion, but don’t expect the next practitioner to be a panacea, or even competent. He

, you’ll learn just how devastating his error was.

That accountant, or CPA who attends a one-day seminar, suddenly decides to bill himself as a “Wealth Consultant,” when most of his friends, neighbors, and family members know something you don’t.

He couldn’t pick a winning stock or investment if his life depended on it.

So, how can the rest of us get a clue that a professional is way out of his depth, that he or she is incompetent?

Remember these six tip-offs:

(1) Don’t trust smooth talk; trust results. If he hasn’t been delivering the goods, put his feet to the fire. When my ear infection wasn’t cleared-up by the EYE MEDICINE my ear specialist prescribed, I was on his case right away, expressing displeasure. At first, the nurse tried to put off my next appointment, and I insisted I couldn’t hear—get me in, now! She did, he blasted my ear with a powder that tasted lousy, but it worked.

(2) Don’t blame yourself if their advice or techniques fail. Generally, if you did exactly what they instructed you to do, and you didn’t get the intended result, IT'S THEIR FAULT. Don’t let them off the hook. Get them to re-do it, as mentioned above, or to refund your money. If you suffered a large loss as a result of their incompetence, seek the help of a competent attorney.

(3) Get another opinion, but don’t expect the next practitioner to be a panacea, or even competent. He

six tip-offs:

(1) Don’t trust smooth talk; trust results. If he hasn’t been delivering the goods, put his feet to the fire. When my ear infection wasn’t cleared-up by the EYE MEDICINE my ear specialist prescribed, I was on his case right away, expressing displeasure. At first, the nurse tried to put off my next appointment, and I insisted I couldn’t hear—get me in, now! She did, he blasted my ear with a powder that tasted lousy, but it worked.

(2) Don’t blame yourself if their advice or techniques fail. Generally, if you did exactly what they instructed you to do, and you didn’t get the intended result, IT'S THEIR FAULT. Don’t let them off the hook. Get them to re-do it, as mentioned above, or to refund your money. If you suffered a large loss as a result of their incompetence, seek the help of a competent attorney.

(3) Get another opinion, but don’t expect the next practitioner to be a panacea, or even competent. He

e yourself if their advice or techniques fail. Generally, if you did exactly what they instructed you to do, and you didn’t get the intended result, IT'S THEIR FAULT. Don’t let them off the hook. Get them to re-do it, as mentioned above, or to refund your money. If you suffered a large loss as a result of their incompetence, seek the help of a competent attorney.

(3) Get another opinion, but don’t expect the next practitioner to be a panacea, or even competent. He could be just as bad, and you could be encountering SERIAL MALPRACTITIONERS. Call it dumb luck, but you can win the booby price twice in a row. Best advice: Cut your losses again, and find a better practitioner.

(4) Don’t let price or fees fool you. Some of the greatest charlatans charge plenty, while competent folks might require more modest fees. Price isn’t value.

(5) Do your research. Contact professional societies and search the web for negative comments. You’d be surprised at what you’ll find that fills public records. One physician I researched was sued successfully for malpractice. Everybody can make a mistake, but why risk your health by placing it in hands that have already been court-certified to be incompetent?

(6) Finally, trust your gut. You may not have a smoking gun, a definitive knowledge of exactly how they’re incompetent, but if you feel it is so, it may well be. One of the satisfactions of dealing with true professionals is the fact that many of them put you at ease. If someone causes the opposite to happen, making you nervous or suspicious, make a change.

Sooner or later almost every one of us encounters an incompetent professional, though it may never become apparent. If you do, take action, and get the treatment and satisfaction you deserve!