Know What You Don’t Know
“He can’t learn what he doesn’t know because he doesn’t know he doesn’t know it.”
Reading this quote got me thinking how people with less knowledge and expertise in a field tend to be more confident in their opinions about this field than true experts. True experts realize that their knowledge only goes so far. They realize how much more there is for them to know and so become less confident in their opinions and more open to additional information.
Untangling the quote even further led me to a better understanding of a phenomenon in business and other fields that’s been puzzling me. How is it that the leaders of organizations, whether business, non-profit or governmental, with less knowledge, experience, and a narrow view of the world are so often the most forceful about proclaiming their leadership superiority?
Over the years, when I’ve asked successful CEOs what it is that makes them so good at running their business, they tend to say something similar to what Mike Kowalski, the recently retired CEO of Tiffany & Co. once told me. “I’m not so smart. I’ve been lucky and managed to get a great group of managers who really know what they’re doing.” I paraphrase a bit but the sentiment is all his.
This from someone who did a wonderful job successfully leading Tiffany through some extremely difficult economic times. When he was CEO I used to drop in on Tiffany stores I passed and talk to the people working there about the company and Mike. Their eyes lit up as they shared their stories about his inclusive leadership and the people-centric culture he created.
On the other hand, I’ve been asked to “deal with” several CEOs who in spite of all evidence to the contrary are absolutely convinced of their all-encompassing knowledge and expertise. These know-it-alls don’t know what they don’t know. Their false confidence blinds them to their shortcomings and failings, and as a result, they blame and berate others for the results of their own poor leadership abilities and results.
They fall to Nietzche’s dictum that “there are no facts, only interpretations” and their interpretations, based on poor knowledge and narrow view, are way off the mark.
These CEOs are no longer employed…
The odd thing to me is how they got hired in the first place. Clearly the hiring people were won over by their confidence in themselves and didn’t investigate deeply enough to see the blindness behind it. Or perhaps the hiring people themselves suffer from not knowing what they don’t know, making decisions based on interpretations at variance with reality.
The quote up top is from Newt Gingrich, referring to someone you’ve heard a lot from recently. I leave you to identify him and to contemplate the implications.
Being a downstream manager in computing for a few Fortune 500 companies I can bear witness to the narrowness of vision in the executive suite. Oftentimes we were called up to validate technology whims of the CEO, justifying unwarranted selections as “the right thing to do.” Usually based on a sales pitch and some lunches from tech companies wanting to get their foot in the door. No matter if our firm had the foundation to fit said technology into the environment, or if our people were prepared to support it. Being on the bleeding edge always appeal to the unprepared mind.
Hi Steve,
One thing we’ve learned over the years is that power over creates fear. A fair amount of leaders become isolated from real information but seduced into believing that they really know what’s going on. You wrote about it awhile back in your VW article. Employees try to protect some leaders from information because they care for them, while others protect themselves by withholding critical information that might be embarrassing or threatening to them. This can lead executives into believing that the bubble they’ve unwittingly created is real. It’s all around us, happening every day. Being humble is not easy when you are surrounded by some people who fear you and others who are competing against you. One of the saddest things to see is an isolated executive unwittingly pursuing a self destructive path. But then again, we wouldn’t have great Greek tragedies without them.
I have been trying to understand how to create an effective accelerator in developing economies in LatAm and Africa. I am really beginning to appreciate how much I don’t know. My thinking is talk to as many people as possible to try and figure out what is going on in different countries. My current realization is that most people just like to talk and not much is actually getting done.