Know what you don’t know…

Is it just ME, or have you, too been part of a conversation in which at least one of the parties “had no clue”?

Here’s why this is on my mind today…

Within the last 24-hours, I have received three requests from women who are inquiring about something on behalf of someone else.  It seems clear to me that the inquiring party doesn’t have enough information – or understanding – of what their task is all about…

I’ve been in those shoes…MANY years ago, The Managing Partner of the law firm I was Assistant Manager for, asked me to find out about a FAK-SIM-A-LEE…

Not wanting to sound “unedumacated” to him, I left his office… clueless about what it was I was supposed to do.

I figured SOMEONE in New York City could help me.  To my dismay, my boss must have been the second person in the world to hear about a FAK-SIM-A-LEE ; second only to whoever the inventor was!

I struggled. I made meaningless phone calls.  There was no GOOGLE to rely on…imagine that.  It’s like living in a world without electricity or CABLE TV!!!    NOOOOOOOOOO!

Thankfully, my prayers, having been answered, Mr. S_____ came back to me and told me he had the information he needed.

I learned a HUGE lesson that day…I learned  to be OK telling someone I didn’t understand something, didn’t know the meaning of a word, couldn’t remember a name…I learned to know what I didn’t know and in so doing created wonderful learning experiences.

I remember asking my Dad how to spell a word.  He’s say, “Go look it up.”  “If I don’t know how to spell it, how can I look it up”, I replied.  “You’ll figure it out”, he responded, “and you’ll never forget how to spell that word again.”

In asking and getting sound advice, we learn; that means we KNOW it and we know it forever – that’s learning and therein ls growth.

Throughout my career, I’ve been asked many things for which I did not have an answer.  I learned to tell people that I didn’t know but that I would find out for them – AND ME. 

I earned the respect of many people this way and I served their needs better by ferretting out the right information and sharing it.  For that reason I have grown to be somewhat of a reliable source of information and to the dismay of many, have gathered bits of info  here and there that  I am often asked, “how do you know that?”

Somewhere along the way, I asked, I listened, I learned…  

 

So, to the three who reached out to me this week, I would say that if you don’t understand the assignment, you have little chance of completing it correctly.  Sadly, you may remain among those who provide incomplete – and usually negative information – it’s safer that way – and you have denied yourself and your Taskmaster from enjoying the experience of personal growth – why would you want to do that?

So, IS it just me, or do we all know that my boss was asking for info on what we know call a FAX MACHINE – already among the devises becoming less and less used in today’s world – because WE CONTINUE TO LEARN – AND SHARE!

Mr. S, call me – on your SMART PHONE!