What Don’t You Know? And How Will You Learn It? by Jerry Hocutt |
Tom Brokaw warned Barack Obama and John McCain that the last question of the night for their town hall debate was a “Zen question emailed by a voter in New Hampshire. The question is, ‘What don’t you know, and how will you learn it?’”
Their answers were typical political responses: filler words to fill the time until each could transition to his own preferred talking points. But it’s still an excellent question.
For me, it’s easier to state what I do know – since there is so little – compared to what I don’t know. But let’s apply the question to sales and business. Entrepreneurs just starting their new business don’t know if they’ll succeed. Don’t know if they have the product or service people want to buy. Don’t know if their pricing is right. Don’t know how to market. Don’t know how to sell. Don’t know how to get investors. Don’t know if they have the will and determination to do whatever it takes. Business owners don’t know if they can overcome the Wall Street fiasco and the global economic meltdown.
Management doesn’t know if they’re hiring the right people. Don’t know what motivates each employee. Don’t know if the salary and or commissions are enough to get the person they want without overpaying or underpaying. Don’t know what the company’s new philosophy will be if they’re bought out. Don’t know what new services and products to offer their customer base. Don’t know if they could have negotiated a better deal.
Salespeople don’t know how to find more new customers. Don’t know what motivates one buyer from the next. Don’t know if management will back them. Don’t know if the new product will deliver the benefits as promised. Don’t know if the customer will even use their service or product properly to get those benefits. Don’t know if the next networking function is really worth the time.
Another Zen zinger
It’s easy to know what you don’t know. So, is it just as easy to find the answer? Maybe. In fact, you may already know the answer if you believe what philosopher Michael Polyani said: “We know more than we know we know.”
If you know what you don’t know, answer this question and you may have one way for how to learn what you don’t know: “How can you tell if spaghetti is done?”
Don’t know which close will work? Throw them all against the wall and see which one sticks. Don’t know if the new idea you learned at the seminar will motivate the staff? Take your best shot and try it. Don’t know if your business will succeed or fail? Pull out all the stops and give it everything you’ve got.
Jump in
That’s how you learn. No one has the ANSWER. No one has the SECRET. Every question has different answers. You have to learn on your own. Every situation, every event, every person is different.
You have to act. Do anything that moves you closer towards your goal. Do what you think needs to be done. Do something. Anything. That’s better than doing nothing. You’ll learn what works and what doesn’t. You have to get involved. You have to take risks. Hold your nose, jump in, and see what happens. Swim, sink, or call out for help. One way or the other, you’ll learn – and then you’ll know.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said that the “teacher will appear when the student is ready.” Once you take that first step – whether it’s having children, making a public speech, or starting a new business – the teachers appear, lessons in hand.
If you don’t act, you won’t know. If you don’t know, everything is just theory or fear or worry.
Jerry Hocutt, speaker, sales trainer, and author has been described as funny, weird, inspirational, smart, idiot, slightly off kilter, spot-on, unconventional...I could go on but you get the idea. If you need a keynote, breakout, or workshop speaker at your next event, and you need any or all of the above, contact him at jerry.ht@footinthedoor.com or 253-639-0744 for a free press kit.
P.S. Warning! Even though he lives in Seattle, he still has his Texas accent. Sorry about that.