In this episode we pose the question - are generalists better equipped to solve complex problems and navigate uncertainty? We also talk about (drumroll) being the dumbest person in the room and why the beginner's mind is a gift.
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Transcript >
Welcome to Weirdos in the Workplace with your host Erin Patchell.
This is our first episode. It is March 29th, 2023, and I'm happy to chat with you a little bit today about,
Being the dumbest person in the room.
Stay tuned.
So, I grew up with more than my fair share of social anxiety. I won't get into it because it's probably a long and frankly boring story, but needless to say, I spent a lot of years observing people and a lot of years getting very comfortable with being the dumbest person in the room for a long time. I thought I was really stupid when I was growing up.
To say I know that there were people around me and friends and family who did not think that way, and they thought that I was quite intelligent, in fact, but I always felt like I was missing something. I always felt like there were just pieces of information that I didn't understand.
And over time, I learned that it's because my mind sees things in such detail that if there's any detail missing, then there are so many variables that I won't be able to, you know, assimilate into my algorithms, my internal algorithms, and that's why I'm often confused all the time.
I love, love, love being in A room with people who are smarter than me, and it helps me to assimilate knowledge. That's an interesting place to be in the world that we live in. Right now, that is constantly changing, and we can't trust the status quo. We can't trust.
You know, everything is changing all the time, and so we have to learn how to learn faster.
Eric Hoffer, who was quite an interesting American moral and social philosopher, died the same year I was born, incidentally said that in a world of change, the learner shall inherit the earth while the learned shall find themselves perfectly suited for a world that no longer exists.
What he's saying here is that it is less risky to be a generalist in the world that we have today, and I know that people talk about this all the time. There are lots of very interesting philosophers and psychologists, and business leaders who've talked about this concept of being becoming a generalist in this world.
But think about it. People who become specialists because I'm not a specialist. As you get to know me, you'll realize I'm the classic Jack of all trades. I've done a little bit of everything. I've dabbled, and I've tried to learn as much as I can. I keep an open mind, yadda yadda.
But I think A lot about being a specialist because I envy that. I deeply envy people who know what they want.
They are fixated on it, and they're capable of having the drive, intelligence, and motivation, all the things they need to succeed in a very specific role and become very good at it.
Part of me wonders if it's because of how we manage risk as people or how we've learned to manage it as people. That's something that I've been curious about, and I've not seen any research on that. So, if you know any research out there about, you know, risk tolerance and, you know, human beings who have generalized versus specialized, I'd be very curious to read about that.
But I do wonder about that.
I'm curious how much of our upbringing, our nurture, has created our risk tolerance and, therefore, our interest or ability or psychological ability to specialize and get really good at something.
Because I know for myself, and this is definitely true for me, that I very much resist learning deeply about something because I am worried that that thing that I'm interested in and that I have spent many years possibly. A lot of energy learning is eventually going to become obsolete or not useful to me or to anyone else, not marketable.
I do envy that I do envy that ability to throw caution to the wind and trust that if you learn something deep enough that you will, there will be a market for it.
You will have a career I know that is not necessarily true for everyone.
I know there are very educated professionals who do go down that path and find themselves a little bit stuck and have to pivot. I've worked with some people who that has been true for.
But the reality is that even specialists have numerous transferable skills, so it's not really as risky as my own brain as trying to make it out to be right.
These are some of the crazy things I think about. So being the dumbest person in the room, I think it's a good position to be in.
If you're constantly surrounding yourself with people who are smarter than you, you're capable of being in the room, and you're willing to ask the questions that no one else is willing to ask and look a little stupid, to be honest, sometimes. Because everyone else is making assumptions, and you're not making assumptions.
Then that's a great place to be because you're going to have a lot of breakthroughs, and everyone else is going to have a lot of breakthroughs as well.
So, don't make any assumptions.
I guess you know, I think, most importantly, if you can cultivate that mindset where you are, you're the dumbest person in the room, but that's OK.
In fact, that's a great thing to be the dumbest person in the room. It's a great position to be in, and keep asking questions and getting curious. Then it creates this culture in your organization where people feel safe to just say dumb things sometimes, and sometimes it's the dumbest things that end up being the most profound.
I'll leave you with this little story.
Once, a professor went to his Zen master; he asked him to explain the meaning of Zen, and the master quietly poured a cup of tea. The cup was full, but he continued to pour the water splashing over the sides of the cup. The professor could not stand this any longer, so he questioned the master impatiently. Why do you keep pouring when the cup is full?
I want to point it out to you. The master said that you are similarly attempting to understand Zen while your mind is full. First, empty your mind of preconceptions before you attempt to understand them.
Of course, this is a fairly famous parable, but I think it applies to basically everything that we do in life in every single room we come in, in everything single space that we come in, make an intention before you enter that space, whether it's a virtual space or a real-world space or even just another moment in time. Purpose to enter that space with a completely open mind to possibilities and shed off all your preconceptions, preconceived notions, and assumptions. Allow it to open like a flower, allowing the scenario, thought, or conversation to open as it as it is intended to be.
That's all for now.
Thanks for listening!
If you like this episode, I'd love to connect with you on https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-patchell/ or https://www.positivist.ca/. I'm your host Erin Patchell, and remember, don't stay out of trouble.
