You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

How do you get to know what you don’t know if you don’t know what you don’t know — you know?

It’s pretty tough when someone suggests that you “don’t know what you don’t know” (DKWDK). Rarely do they say it to your face. It’s pretty much an after-the-fact observation — like after an interview. What sparks that observation? You would think it was either something you said or something you didn’t say. (Did I cover all of the bases there?) Maybe you said something that was off target or not based in fact. It could be that you missed a point entirely, right?

Wrong. Almost anytime I’ve heard someone say that someone DKWDK it’s triggered by the interviewee’s arrogance, not by missing or misstating a point. In short, saying that someone DKWDK is a comment on an interviewee’s interview skills. It’s not the facts that you don’t know, but how to convey them when you do and acknowledge them when you don’t.

Clearly this is career concept. Knowing something doesn’t make you “ruler of the world,” and not knowing something isn’t worth hiding. Both approaches don’t serve you well — long term and short term.

So next time you don’t know, remember that you do know what you can know if you know to say that you don’t know — you know?