One of the saddest expressions in the English language is “if only I’d known sooner”. It can convey so much in so few words. It can signal regret in not taking advantage of an opportunity; dismay at being unable to stop something bad from happening; a realisation of wasted resources. It is an admission that had we been equipped with all available information at the time, things would have turned out differently.

But while it is an admission of not knowing the full story or context when making a decision, it also hints at another more difficult challenge: we often don’t know what we don’t know. I apologise if I sound like I’m speaking in circles.

“If only I’d known sooner” is an expression that tells us that information, or knowledge, was not only unavailable but was also not obviously accessible at the time. So, what’s the fix?

It’s a tired movie cliché to have a character say something seemingly unrelated to a problem, only for another character to ask them to repeat it, thus leading to a solution being found. Think Independence Day (1996) when one character tells another to get off the floor to avoid catching a cold, which leads to the plan to upload a virus to the alien mothership.

Tired cliché or not, though, it is an example of bringing diversity of cultural and thoughts into a problem and thus a possible solution to “not knowing sooner”. Sometimes, just having someone say something you’d never thought of before, or tell you about something you didn’t realise, can be enough of a reminder to break out of our bubbles and think things through a different lens. Or to ask others follow up questions, or for clarity, or for a million other little things that can a massive impact.