The most valuable skill I learned in academia is not forming an opinion too quickly.
When faced with a complex problem, people tend to jump to conclusions, often based on intuition, half knowledge or preconceived notions. They start proposing or implementing solutions prematurely.
The correct thing to do instead is to keep an open mind and “remain neutral” initially.
Your first course of action is to research and analyze the problem. Collect relevant data. Look up and read publications. Talk to people who are personally involved and consider their opinions. Look up how others have tackled similar problems and what experiences they made. Pay attention to details. This may take a considerable amount of time, but it is time well spent.
When considering other people’s opinions, it is essential to remain impartial. You need to be able to look at the world from their perspective and try to understand how they came to their opinions. Even if you may disagree eventually, you need to give them a chance and try to understand their thought process (and possibly where they made a mistake).
Only when you have collected sufficient data, thoroughly analyzed the problem, considered all viewpoints, then you will finally be ready to form an opinion and propose a solution.
This will lead to well-informed and robust decisions.
Of course it is still possible that you missed something and will need to revise your opinion later on. But the chances are much lower.
This skill is widely applicable inside and outside of academia.
