I don't know
blog.42floors.com
I don't know
1–10 of 80 posts
Re: I don't know
#2I wish politicians would have this attitude instead of avoiding the questions and coming out with meaningless statements.
Re: I don't know
#3My attitude is that preemptive honesty establishes credibility. Even more when it is backed up by everything else you do.
By contrast up front evidence of defensive behavior is a red flag for me in all sorts of situations.
Re: I don't know
#4In Indian culture, knowledge (viveka) is always accompanied with humility (vinaya).
Thus, counter-intuitively, saying 'I don't know' is an indicator of the speaker's knowledge, as he is aware of areas of his ignorance.
Contrast with an arrogant attitude of "I-know-everything-or-can-find-it-out" and the fuck-ups that inevitably follow.
Aside: I would really like to know what the solution to keeping the listings updated was. Or, is that a trade secret? ;)
edit: s/Aide/Aside
Re: I don't know
#5I really like this idea and try to apply it as much as possible. In my experience, for any kind of teamwork, the faster we get to the "I don't knows", the faster we solve problems, while stating half-truths/guesses-as-facts spreads confusion and kills productivity. I've also noticed that the type of person who is afraid to admit knowledge gaps is usually also the one who looks at me funny or expresses disapproval whenever I use the phrase. It's as if they are confused as to why I would ever admit such weakness.
Re: I don't know
#6I swear to god, every time I read a post by Jason, I wish he was my manager. I consider myself a highly productive person, but constantly hampered, directly and indirectly, by terrible managers. Jason always comes off as the kind of person that amplifies the abilities of his team. That is all...I'm gushing and its embarrassing.
Re: I don't know
#7I wish politicians would have this attitude instead of avoiding the questions and coming out with meaningless statements.
Politicians don't say anything useful because everything they say is fodder for the media to find something to excerpt, distort, and then replay endlessly out of context as an attack. The media has forced politicians not to say anything.
Qu'on me donne six lignes écrites de la main
du plus honnête homme, j'y trouverai de quoi
le faire pendre.
If you give me six lines written by the hand of
the most honest of men, I will find something in
them which will hang him.
-- Cardinal Richelieu (attributed)Re: I don't know
#8It's not just "I don't know" that is important, but also the next part of the thought: "but I can find out."
Just admitting you don't know is great, but it's not good enough. You have to also be able to take the next step and find out.
If I ask two people if they know how to do something, and one of them says "I don't know" and the other says "I don't know, but I can find out," then... well, I don't really need to complete that thought. You can see the difference right there.
But other than that, Jason is spot on. This is something I've been keeping an eye out for for years. When I interview people, I ask a question, and when they're clearly bullshitting me, I'll stop them and say, "It's okay if you don't know." The best candidates will often back down, like Jason did in his example, and say "Yeah, I don't really know, but I'll figure it out."
Bullshitting me with an answer isn't a red flag. It means you're at least thinking about the problem. But admitting you don't know but are willing to figure it out is a far, far superior answer. Very few real-world problems demand an answer RIGHT NOW. Most can wait until some research is done.
Re: I don't know
#9Someone who has all the answers, probably has an important answer wrong.
Also, don't look at people's plans, look at their criteria.
Re: I don't know
#10I wish politicians would have this attitude instead of avoiding the questions and coming out with meaningless statements.
I hate to point this out, but when he was running for Governor, Jesse Ventura used to say it all the time. I remember in several of the debates when asked tough economic questions.
"I don't have the answer to your question, but I know if I'm elected, I'll appoint the brightest economic people I can find to solve the problem."
As opposed to other candidates who either talked along party lines and said they would tax the rich or give tax breaks to businesses and rich people.
I still feel like it was one of the most important things he said that got him elected. He never acted like he had all the answers.