I Don’t Know!

The teenager in my house often uses the term, “I don’t know!”

Yes, undoubtedly, there’s an element of “teenager speak” at play.

“I don’t know” is not a term I hear all that often in workplaces. The pressure - even inadvertently - placed upon people to have all the knowledge, all the answers, all the skills, and all the expertise is huge.

This (unrealistic) expectation sets up the game of make believe that plays out every day in too many a workplace. Individuals, and teams, concerned about the consequences of not knowing, or not knowing now, assert instead of inquiring, tell instead of asking, charge ahead instead of experimenting.

There is a power in accepting and embracing not knowing.

When we don’t know, we get to be curious, explore options, ask questions, be open to something new and different, be creative and innovative and work together to discover solutions.

I’m curious, how comfortable are you in not knowing it all?

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