3 valuable reasons to be excited that 'you don’t know'
embrace uncertainty, ask questions, and ignite your path to growth.
Pragmatic Curiosity helps you harness your curiosity to become a self-learner. Thank you for reading.
Summary
🤔🤔 It empowers you: realizing you don’t know is the beginning of learning.
🎨🧩 It shows confidence: admitting limitations is what shows true confidence.
☀️📅 It’s the beginning: realizing a shortcoming ignites the spark of curiosity.
I recently saw an image telling people to ditch certain phrases. Top 10 phrases to forget unless you suck. The very first phrase was: “I don’t know”.
Lucky for us, the image graciously provides alternatives to suck less!
As it turns out, smart people actually say “I’ll find out and get back to you!”
Another gem: instead of “I don’t understand,” the right thing to say is, “Could you please explain it again?”
And — most important of all — you have to stop saying sorry. Like the cool, tough guy you really are. The one who’s got it all covered. Big business guy. The moolah maker. The one bringing home the bread.
1. The power of “I don’t know”
Here’s the thing: “I don’t know” is one of the most powerful phrases.
It is the cornerstone of learning. Not knowing, acknowledging a gap in your knowledge and endeavoring to find out. Is that not healthy?
“I don’t know” — the basis of questioning, the foundation of curiosity, the beginning of growth.
If you don’t know, why not ask someone who does? Why not seek out an answer? Are you just gonna sit there and pretend to have a clue?
Are you that afraid of seeming stupid?
Everyone needs to be able to acknowledge that they don’t know. Even leaders.
I know I sure as shit wouldn’t be inspired by a leader with an inflated sense of their own abilities, and an ego fragile enough to be shattered by a cotton sweater curled into a ball and thrown. What truly inspires is confidence, and an environment of growth.
2. Where is the confidence?
It might seem like always knowing the answers and not needing any help is how a confident person acts. But here’s the truth: confidence is asking questions.
Society, and especially the corporate setting, values not appearing weak. You’ll be seen as being at fault if you dare to admit that you don’t have an answer. That you’re not infallible.
But that makes the acknowledgement even more impressive.
You’re self-aware. You’re humble enough to acknowledge a limit — a lack of knowledge. And you’re confident enough to ask someone else for help, someone who might even be, gasp, “below“ you.
This humility is what fosters a culture of learning and growth.
I’ve worked in many teams as a developer. The teams that encouraged questioning learned more and produced better results. Our learning is fast-tracked when we have an environment that supports our curiosity — each question can become the beginning.
3. The end or the beginning
Saying “I don’t know” isn’t the end, an impassable wall; it’s the beginning, the opening of a door.
It’s the spark that ignites the flame of curiosity.
Instead of being tempted to pretend you know something, take a step back. Realize that you are showing humility. The door opens and you step through. You now get to follow the path — asking questions, searching for answers, growing.
You become a seeker of knowledge.
Perhaps you even identify a knowledge gap, leading to your epistemic curiosity being piqued and better learning.
All because you found the courage to say “I don’t know”.
I’m here to remind you that we can learn anything. Even if you don’t believe it right now, you have the capacity. Instead of throwing away “I don’t know”, combine it with the action you are going to take. The smartest and most pragmatic people I know use this opportunity as a springboard.
I don’t know. But I can find out.
Here’s one note I want to highlight, one quote to make you ponder and one post/note from another creator I enjoyed this week.
1. The Note
2. The Quote
A prudent question is one half of wisdom - Francis Bacon
3. The Promote
This week, I enjoyed reading
of discussing how to regain lost motivation:
Love the Francis Bacon quote. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing, Rasmus! I especially enjoyed your narration.
This really struck a chord with me. In my younger years, both in educational and professional settings, I often hesitated to ask questions for fear of seeming uninformed. Yet, I've learned that these questions frequently uncover important nuances - ones that others are often quietly wondering about too.
If you're seeking clarification, chances are you're not alone. Embracing "I don't know" isn't just okay — it's essential for learning and growth. After all, there's nothing stupid about being hungry to learn and improve.