Choose dissertation committee members who want to help you finish, not just experts in their fields. Avoid assembling people who will compete for influence or turn your defense into an ideological battleground. Pick collaborators who work well together and understand their role is support.
So to just jump right in. Number one, your committee. Understanding how to work with your committee, how to select your committee, how to give them what they are looking for, what they need to help you finish to pass you is incredibly important to make sure that your committee members can work well together. Don't just find people based on their expertise or their interests and try to smush them together because the last thing you want is your dissertation to be a ideological battleground where members are trying to basically show each other how important they are. You want people who understand the role as a committee member and understand they are there to help you finish.
