Comments

As a manager I’ve always ‘not known’ more than I ‘know.’ ‘Don’t know’ is simple - why is it such a problem for some? When I was younger and even more naïve than I am now I played the game of nodding my head in meetings pretending I knew what the hell he/she was talking about. Although I refuse to grow up I estimate when I turned about 30 I realised there is more bulls***t than sense spoken at most meetings of managers. With this realisation I got braver and often told peers ‘I don’t know what you are talking about.’ In the UK TV comedy series Victor Meldrew (Richard Wilson) summed it up brilliantly; ‘What language are you talking in now? It appears to be Bollocks! In my view DNK always increases rather than reduces my boss’s credibility.

Posted by Trevor Gay at December 7, 2007 9:34 AM

You can't do MBWA without DNK. (Well, not properly.) And if you can't do MBWA...

Posted by Mark JF at December 7, 2007 10:15 AM

DNK is a massive learning resource. As someone else said, I have no special talents; I am only passionately curious. DK is the opposite of curious is the opposite of learning.

Posted by Joel D Canfield at December 7, 2007 2:22 PM

well said tom. i always say the only thing i DK is that i DNK anything at all! now if only we could pass that "knowledge" along to those who really need it!

Posted by rachel at December 7, 2007 3:53 PM

Sat in a high school class recently. It was addressing a new concept, and the teacher started with the list of "what we know" and then went to the list of "what we need to know."

Students took to it quickly and got focused on the critical issues.

Posted by Ted A. Waggoner at December 7, 2007 4:31 PM

Also, INTERVIEW for said skill. Deliberately ask candidates at least one question where you know they don't know the answer. Usually this is easiest on technical stuff.

Also, when interviewing for a job, might not be a bad idea to ask your future boss a question they don't know the answer to and see what they have to say.

Posted by Dave at December 7, 2007 7:11 PM

Why is it so hard for so many managers to say DNK?

There are so many corporate cultures in which admitting DNK openly takes a lot of courage...unfortunately. And bad things happen.

I've got a hunch that ego plays a role. I've also got a hunch that some level of insecurity also plays a role.

I wonder if more of us were to openly say those three words, how much more safety we might create for those we lead to do the same?

Manoj

Posted by Manoj Pawar at December 8, 2007 1:18 AM

I have always found that the single most important attribute a leader must have is credibility. If you DNK....it's evident to all anyway and pretty much depletes your credibility capital. When I find myself saying I don't know (I often say it even when I do), it's immediately follwed with a WDYT"..."What Do You Think?". I recall a quote saying that WDYT were the four most important words you could say in any organization. DNK would be a close 1a. If you use them together, you can get stuff done....

Posted by Dave W at December 8, 2007 12:17 PM

Not knowing something and admitting that - is good. However, one has to have the craving / hunger to know ‘that’ thing. I don’t think ‘DNK’ should be used as an excuse for not knowing / not wanting to know something. I suggest everyone should watch the video titled ‘The pleasure of finding things out’ – a BBC documentary on the maverick physicist Richard P Feynman, where he clearly explains what ‘KNOWING SOMETHING’ truly means.

Posted by Sriram at December 10, 2007 12:01 AM

Thank you for this posting. I do think it is not just about yourself.

My challenge is what have you done today to create a lasting culture where being able to admit DNK is applauded not frowned on?

Knowing is only part of it - a culture where people can say I am not sure how to DO that as well as KNOW that is the sign of a performing and mature environment. It's a sign of people who are secure and want to be excellent. Only mediocre people are happy to work with what they already know and can already do!

Posted by PaulH at December 10, 2007 3:37 AM

Manoj / PaulH: there are some cultures where DNk is simply a no-no. Japanese culture would have it that the boss must know everything, down to the last detail. Saying you don't know something, especially about your supposed area of expertise, would be a huge loss of face.

Posted by Mark JF at December 10, 2007 4:39 AM

Useful insight into another culture Mark. I am curious to know how the Japanese deal with this? Do they have face saving mechanisms to avoid these types of situations?

Posted by PaulH at December 10, 2007 7:15 AM

PaulH: all sorts. From not asking when it's pretty obvious the other person doesn't know through to making the answer up. (Don't laugh: I've seen things authorised on the basis of the senior person's palpably wrong opinion that no-one dared to challenge.) An easy one is through asking open ended questions. Instead of asking directly how many sales staff a competitor has or where his R&D centre is located, the more passive "Do we have any data on xyz" leaves sufficient wiggle room.

Posted by Mark JF at December 10, 2007 8:28 AM

Fascinating Mark - and I hear what you say about the Japanese culture. However competent we might like to think we are, the truth is we don’t always know all the answers – however specialised we might be and however much 'the boss' we might be. Believing we know all the answers surely closes our minds to all ideas of learning and new possibilities. I would argue that from ‘possibilities’ are where new ideas emerge – but then again I DON’T KNOW that of course :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at December 10, 2007 8:31 AM

Of course, the main reason most managers can not say "I Don't Know" is that most managers are men. It is a genetic flaw in our makeup that keeps us from admitting when we do not know something. Up here at the Possum Lodge, we have started a support group to help encourage our fellow men to get over this debilitating behavior. Our motto is "I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess."

Posted by Red (Green) Island Rhodes at December 10, 2007 8:40 AM

I think that as well as DNK, we should also do something about OK,IWW (SWDWDN)

OK, I WAS WRONG (SO WHAT DO WE DO NOW)

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safe generic viagra Admitting you don't know something is a big step but how many of us have got big enough cojones to admit we made an error (without blaming it on someone else mis-leading you) and call a time-out to figure out how to correct things before they go disastrously wrong?

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Posted by Trevor Gay at December 10, 2007 9:55 AM

and what about "what do you pretend not to know!!!!"
that is powerful isn't it?
cheers

Posted by guillem oliva at December 10, 2007 10:56 AM

Trevor, I'm with you. I've not led a team yet whose number one concern was my lack of knowledge about a particular topic. If I'm meeting their other and more needs like coaching and development, giving the the tools they need to do what's expected, and "borrowing" their expertise in planning and decision making, it's amazing how little my functional knowledge is an factor. Communication builds trust, trust builds credibility, credibility builds teams...top performing ones. Maybe it's ego, or the "myth" that position means power....don't know. I do know however that when my mouth says one thing and my policies, processes, or actions don't contradict what I said it's not an issue. You learn a bunch just talking with folks anyway. I recently read an article in Fortune where T-Mobile's Customer Service VP Sue Nokes was quoted as saying she tries to create a work environment/culture where people could tell her "my baby is ugly". If a person can get folks comfortable, trusting and engaged enough to do that....that's leadership!

Posted by Dave W at December 10, 2007 9:47 PM