You Don’t Need to Know

From a very early age, we have been taught to get good at and to value knowing the answer. In the classroom, on tests, and at home, we got rewards for being the one who knows. Now, at work, we  think that our bosses, peers, team, and clients need us to know stuff. And we can waste lots of energy trying to be the one who knows.

But do we really need to know?

There is actually much value in not knowing. If we don’t know, we can help others to better understand what they know by having them explain it to us. If we don’t know, we can explore deeper to find even better answers. If we don’t know, we can help others highlight what’s missing in their thinking. And if we don’t know, we can make someone else’s day by saying, “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”

In your corner,

Mike

PS: If we don’t have to know, we get to be more curious (“I wonder how this will unfold?”) and delightfully surprised (“Oh, that’s clever. Well done.”)

Today’s photo credit: William Murphy cc