Knowledge Alone Is Of No Use

Reference: Talent Is Never Enough – John C. Maxwell

It takes two to tell the truth: one to speak and one to listen. – Henry David Thoreau

1. Learn To Listen

Abraham Lincoln was one of the most teachable presidents. When he began his career, he wasn't a great leader. He was always an avid listener, and as president, he made it possible for every citizen to come to the White House and express their opinion. He called these meetings "public opinion baths." He also encouraged everyone he met to send him opinions and ideas. As a result, he received several hundred letters each month. From these, he learned how the senders thought and used this knowledge to shape his policies and convince others to adopt them.

So remind yourself daily: You can't learn anything by just talking.

2. Understand The Process

• The learning process for learning and growth includes the following steps:
• Take Action!
• Find your mistakes and evaluate them.
• Look for a way to do better.
• Go back to point 1.

Always keep in mind that the greatest enemy of learning something is knowing it. And the goal of all learning is action, not knowledge.

If what you're doing doesn't support you or others in life in any way, question its value and be willing to change.

3. Seek and Plan Teachable Moments

"Always make your learning greater than your experience." Dan Sullivan and Catherine Nomura

Continuous learning is essential for lifelong growth. You can have a lot of experience and still be no wiser, despite all the things you've done, seen, and heard. Experience is no guarantee of lifelong growth.

However, if you regularly transform your experience into new lessons, you'll turn every day into a source of growth throughout your life.

Smart people transform even the smallest situations into breakthroughs in thinking and learning.

Surround yourself with people who challenge and often change your thinking.

"Make your friends your teachers, and mix the joys of conversation with the benefits of instruction." Baltasar Gracian

Cultivate friendships with people who challenge you and offer added value, and try to do the same for them.

4. Make sure your experiences are educational

Many people have experiences and don't even ask themselves what they could learn from a situation. And then there are those who seek educational experiences but then fail to recognize the lesson behind them.

Take seminars, for example. Many people close their notebooks after a seminar and implement very little to nothing of what they've learned.

We tend to focus on learning during the event rather than on the learning process.

5. Ask yourself: Am I teachable?

The following statements come from employee evaluations and display the lack of teachability at its most humorous:

• Since my last report, this employee has hit rock bottom and started digging.
• Works well under constant supervision and when cornered like a rat.
• This young lady had from the delusion of adequacy.
• He sets low personal goals and consistently fails to achieve them.
• This employee should go far, and the sooner he starts, the better.
• He brings a lot of joy whenever he leaves the room.
• If you see two people talking and one looks bored, he's the other one.
• Some drink from the fountain of knowledge, he only gargled.

I can't say it often enough: all the good advice in the world won't help if you're not willing to learn.

To find out if you are truly open to new ideas and new ways of doing things, answer these questions:

1. Am I open to other people's ideas?
2. Do I listen more often than I talk?
3. Am I open to changing my opinion based on new information?
4. Do I really admit when I'm wrong?
5. Do I observe before acting to a situation?
6. Do I ask questions?
7. Am I willing to ask a question that will expose my ignorance?
8. Am I open to doing things in a way I haven't done before?
9. Am I willing to ask for directions?
10. Do I react defensive when criticized, or do I listen openly for the truth?

If you answered "no" to one or more of these questions, then you have room for growth in the area of teachability. You should get off your high horse and learn humility and remember the words of John Wooden, who said, “Everything we know, we learned from someone else.”