A couple of years ago I made up my mind to purchase a firearm. Landing on this decision was the easy part. But then I quickly realized that I had no clue what to purchase or how to go about figuring this out. YouTube videos…Google articles…there was so much information available that it felt overwhelming. Fortunately, I mentioned my newly discovered idea to one of my bosses, and he took over. “There are a few types of guns you should consider buying, and the answer will be based on these certain criteria…”. After answering his clarifying questions, he was able to point me in the right direction with no issue at all.

Looking back on this experience, it’s so clear that the solution to my problem was simply finding someone who knew enough about guns and asking them for help. As author James Clear puts it, “One of the only true shortcuts in life is finding an expert and apprenticing under them”. While my conversation with my boss could hardly be called “apprenticing”, I still located someone who knew what they were talking about and then gleaned knowledge directly from them.

The Takeaway

Is strategic apprenticeship the only takeaway from this story? Or is this even the BIGGEST thing to take away from my experience learning about firearms?

“To understand is to know what to do.” 

This quote is from Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, who lived from 1889 until 1951. This thought explains the tension that I experienced a few years back before getting advice from my boss. Let’s unpack this a bit:

1. I did not know what to do. Whether it be personally or professionally, we often experience this reality. A situation comes our way, and our minds are unsure how to proceed. This can lead to a number of different emotions that include fear, frustration, or dread. In my case with the gun, I felt stuck and experienced the need to procrastinate. Not knowing what to do, how to proceed, is a feeling that we all experience and one that we prefer to avoid if at all possible.
2. I did not understand. As Wittgenstein said decades ago, when we do not know how to proceed, the root cause is a lack of understanding. In my example, the struggle that I experienced in purchasing a firearm was simply because I did not know enough about guns. Even basic questions about gun types, ammunition, size, purpose…I was unable to answer anything and was completely clueless.
3. I lacked experience, expertise. When we find ourselves experiencing a grasp gap, the underlying reason is usually a lack of experience. A few years ago, I did not understand guns because I had almost zero exposure to them in my life. The people that I spend significant time around are not hunters, etc. My knowledge gap was the manifestation of my experience gap.

College grads struggle as they transition into being adults because they do not understand. Managers struggle to get the best out of their people because they do not understand. Organizations struggle to attract, develop, and retain talent because they do not understand.

In Closing

When and where do you find yourself stuck, not knowing what actions to take? How many of these areas do you actually need to give effort towards in order to grow your understanding? Which areas are simply not worth allocating your time and energy to? How are you helping grow the knowledge of those around you so that they can take effective action?