As a consultant, I almost fell into the curse of knowledge. I'm working on instructions for manufacturing, namely drawings. There is a law that must never be violated: Never give the shop a choice.

Choosing the most specific instructions clarifies your own thoughts and prevents many unfortunate mistakes. And when a mistake occurs, or a part doesn't work in application, changes are simpler since the documentation, proven wrong or incomplete, is already relatively unambiguous.

Now I thought everyone knew this. I learned it in the first Mechanical Engineering textbook I bought, as physicist, where many concepts are unknown. I was amazed that my boss, who has owned his company for 25 years, and sourced many components, had never heard this.

I explained all the reasons. Now he knows it.