When an SME is wrong, trust dissolves and dissension follows, not just for the expert in question, but for all experts who come after. So, don’t be wrong. Don’t go out on limbs. Don’t pontificate on subjects you haven’t adequately studied. It can be tempting to expound when asked, but don’t do it if there’s a chance you’ll be mistaken.

Of course, not being wrong is not the same as always being right. Experts don’t have to be right in every instance. It would be impossible for experts to be correct in every detail and in every instance. We all make mistakes, but in my observation, experts can avoid being wrong a lot more than they do.

The two easiest ways to avoid being wrong are to exercise caution when making declarative statements and to add the appropriate qualifiers when you do speak. What assumptions are you making that give you confidence in your declarative statements? How likely are those assumptions to be true? Unless you know something to be true, don’t declare that it is. And when you do declare something to be true, put it in its appropriate box and add the appropriate caution and exceptions.