John Cleese of Monty Python fame made a very funny, yet semi-serious YouTube several years ago that not only allows us to laugh at ourselves, but also makes a critically important observation about life and our human frailties.
John was poking fun and quoting serious research at the same time. According to David Dunning, researcher at Cornell University, in order for someone to accurately KNOW how good they are at something, they must possess exactly the same skills that it takes to actually BE GOOD AT THAT THING in the first place.
Another way of saying this, is that if someone is no good at something, they have no ability what-so-ever to accurately judge whether they are good at it or not.
This really isn’t such new stuff. I’ve read Chinese proverbs written thousands of years ago, essentially stating the same thing. We are blind to our own weaknesses, and the greater the weakness, the greater the blindness.
This statement obviously isn’t universally applicable, for many of us recognize we aren’t very competent at any number of skills or tasks. In competitive activities, our skill level gets sorted out quickly, especially as we advance to greater levels of competitive intensity.
But in many areas of our life, helpful, unbiased feedback that might suggest we change direction in an activity, or let us know we would be wise to seek training to get better at it, isn’t readily available to us. In business careers this truth plays out commonly at every hierarchical level. Internationally recognized executive coach, Marshall Goldsmith, has deep experience working with the top leaders of many of the largest organizations in the world. He regularly says to his clients, that while the abilities they recognize in themselves and have refined are certainly responsible for their success, everyone he has ever coached has weaknesses of which they are completely unaware and that limit their performance significantly. People with great talent often limit their potential and their performance because they don’t get feedback that can move them beyond these limitations.
At every level, in every walk of life, greater self-awareness leads inevitably to greater effectiveness, greater freedom, joy and peace of mind. We encourage the exploration of our deep authentic self. The results will astound you.
To all of our friends, we wish you a joyful holiday season. 2017 holds new promise for us.
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