Assessing the Value of Information

In addition to collecting information from the mentee, the mentor will also need to determine the reliability and validity of the reported facts. Moreover, mentors may need to review the individual conclusions arrived at by mentees in utilizing the data to ensure that they have fully understood the implications of the facts that have been selected to guide their decisions.

Mentors must be careful about assuming that because mentees have been successful in finding relevant information that they also can accurately apply the facts to their own special requirements and needs; these activities are not identical. Instead, mentors often need to filter the mentees’ data through the lens of their own more comprehensive experience.

Sometimes, mentors need to probe regarding the extent to which the mentees have realistically interpreted the facts they are utilizing, especially if the mentees are operating outside of their own particular base of experience and relying primarily on the opinions of others as a substitute for firsthand knowledge.