Do you really know what you know?

Aristotle famously wrote,

"The more you know, the more you realize you don't know."

It takes wisdom to know that we don't know enough, and then a certain humility to accept the deficit. The corollary is that a person who is able to acknowledge his/her lack of complete knowledge on a subject is wise. He/she is open to the possibility that others may know something more and sees learning from others as an opportunity. That willingness comes from humility. Great philosophers and leaders have shared that humility ought to be directly proportional to the amount of talent, knowledge or experience one has. So, the more you know, the more you respect others and the more you learn. The Sanskrit language has a subhashita (maxim) that says

?????? ????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???? ?

??????????????? ???????? ? ?????? ????? ?

(Translation: The branches of a tree laden with fruit bend downward just as the Virtuous persons bow down out of respect to others. But a dry wood never bends down. Neither does a fool who does not respect others.)

In other words, knowledge is humbling, it is ignorance which makes people arrogant.

Workplace Arrogance

Modern professionals, however, are still struggling to maintain a balance between assertive self-promotion and much needed intellectual humility. Sharing what you know, and taking credit for it, is not the same as assuming others don't know more or patronizing the less aware. There’s a fine line between showcasing and showing off. Saying, “I know this” is not the same as saying, “I know more than you on this”. One is humble bragging (a survival skill in the modern professional world), the other is intellectual?arrogance (a deficit of wisdom).

While there is a lot being said about being assertive in the workplace and not downplaying your accomplishments, what author Peggy Klaus calls “The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn without Blowing It”, the challenge is to stay within the boundaries of modest bragging. There can be several reasons for this, including—the fear of being seen as weak or incompetent, the lure of the spotlight, the urge to defend one’s reputation or the desire to be respected for knowing more. It may just be a self-preservation or survival strategy that makes people to go overboard in showcasing their knowledge or skills, eventually draining us of the humility to appreciate new information or own a mistake.?If only we could remind ourselves everyday, that

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.”

– Confucius

Not knowing that we don’t know makes us appear tediously confident but remain regrettably ignorant.

In 2018, the Wall Street Journal published an article called “The Best Bosses Are Humble Bosses” which reported that many companies are now developing indicators to measure humility in job seekers and candidates for leadership positions as it translates into ethical behavior and longer tenure on the job.

“Humility is a core quality of leaders who inspire close teamwork, rapid learning and high performance in their teams, according to several studies in the past three years. Humble people tend to be aware of their own weaknesses, eager to improve themselves, appreciative of others’ strengths and focused on goals beyond their own self-interest.”

– The Wall Street Journal

People suffering from intellectual arrogance often feel like they have all the right answers, and eventually isolate themselves from real knowledge or experience. Also, thinking you know the answers is one thing, and knowing the right answers is another. For example, during a problem-solving meeting with a client, do you tend to interrupt, talk over people or avoid feedback discussions because they make you impatient? You may know something your client may not, but his/her perspective and experiences may not be the same as yours. If you are wise, you’d display the humility to listen and process what the other person is trying to convey, without being blinded by your self-perception. The pursuit to establish one’s mental or moral superiority only leads to unpleasant or failed communication. The moment we accept that we may not be knowing everything, our communications change and harmony prevails.

“I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. I have approximate answers, and possible beliefs, and different degrees of uncertainty about different things, but I am not absolutely sure of anything. There are many things I don't know anything about…and if I can't figure it out then I go on to something else. But I don't have to know an answer. I don't feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in the mysterious universe without having any purpose - which is the way it really is, as far as I can tell.”

– Richard P. Feynman

Pitfalls of Pretension

In 1999, Dunning and Kruger released a study which came to be known as the “Dunning-Kruger Effect”. It explains a cognitive bias whereby “people with low ability, expertise, or experience regarding a type of task or area of knowledge tend to overestimate their ability or knowledge”. An insightful interpretation of this for employees in an organisation and the change in their wisdom over time is available in a blog post by an organisational consultant Joseph Paris, titled “Lessons from Mt. Stupid”. ?

Intellectual arrogance or an overestimation of our knowledge or skills (while underestimating that of others) leads us to the peak of Mt. Stupid which ultimately makes us fall into the “valley of despair”, as our experience grows and we realize how much we don’t know.

Ulf Elhert, a science and technology strategist, depicted this journey as below

A long time ago, Bejamin Franklin also meant something similar when he said, ‘After crosses and losses, men grow humbler and wiser.’

Merits of Not Knowing-it-all

So, there can be several advantages to developing humility after all.

1. You avoid overcommitting yourself and thereby failing to come up to expectations. You prevent the need to fight a desperate battle against incredible odds and falling into the “valley of despair”.

2. You become comfortable in your imperfections while knowing your strengths—you know it before others do. It disarms your opponents.

3. You develop better relationships as it helps you develop the patience to listen to other people’s opinions without getting impatient. When others feel heard, they become better listeners as well. It gives you more influence over them.

4. When you can accept your vulnerabilities or ignorance on a subject, you become more willing to ask for help, make way for others to lead and relieve yourself of the pressure to bear all the load by yourself. Being a martyr or a free rider doesn’t help, neither does being annoyingly overpowering or a control freak. The key is recognizing mutual strengths when working with others and not be desperate to make a good impression.

5. In 2008, two psychology professors reviewed personality research in several languages and identified a combination of humility and honesty, or what they called the H factor, as a stable personality trait. So, by getting down the peak of Mt. Stupid, we display more emotional maturity and self-control than by overrating ourselves.

"Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.”

– C.S.Lewis