Today is June 28 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is “How often do you work on being ignorant and confident at the same time?”
Author Mark Twain noted “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.”
Successful people who navigate the chaos understand that Twain’s simple recipe of combining ignorance and confidence is anything but easy. It is a delicate balancing act that requires a high level of self-awareness.
In his book The Element, Ken Robinson talks about a little girl who was drawing a picture. When her teacher asked what it was the girl said “I’m drawing a picture of God.” The teacher responded “but no one knows what God looks like” to which the girl replied “they will when I show them my picture.”
This childhood innocence should not be confused with the social psychology phenomenon known as the Dunning-Kruger effect where incompetent people cannot recognize their incompetence. For many professions it is important to surround yourself with people who can tell you when you make a mistake.
For example, an accountant should not be ignorant of laws governing taxes. Such ignorance could be troublesome for the accountant and client.
For those in the creative fields such as art, however, the story of the little girl painting God reminds us of the power of being ignorant and confident at the same time.
When appropriate, how often do you work on being ignorant and confident at the same time?