Grant Diggles

It’s Amazing How Much You Really Don’t Know

// February 13th, 2010 // Business, Insights

An excerpt from Grant’s upcoming book “What I’ve Learned About Real Business, Confessions Of An Entrepreneur.”

Through personal experience over the years in my business, I have found the following statement to be true: if you are really honest with yourself, it is amazing how much you really don’t know.  What’s even more amazing than that, are the slew of people out there who think they know everything, have all the answers and are never wrong.  They are unteachable.  The type of people that look you in the eye, smile and nod their head in agreement while on the inside take mental notes on all the fallacies of your point of view.

As I’ve continued to gain experience and excel in my business, it has become increasingly clear to me that I don’t know as much as I once thought.  I have strong insights and clarity in specific topics where I do consider myself highly competent.  Yet, it can be likened to Swiss cheese; however competent I am in my understanding, there will always be holes to fill.  This mentality is the catalyst in my life for continued growth and understanding.

Since real life always seems to speak to me so much more clearly than anything else let me give a personal example.  Several years ago I was sitting in a board meeting with ten surgeons.  I was there representing the anesthesia company I own.  First, it should be said that I was very new to the medical word and am not a clinician.  Normally I bring a clinical staff member with me but a family emergency had unexpectedly come up and my clinical colleague was unable to attend.  I sat in my chair anxiously as the meeting began.  It was going along fine when a surgeon looked at me,

Grant, what do you think about the NPO protocol in your company’s Policy and Procedure Manual?  How strongly do you feel that patients should be NPO for a full twelve hours?  For the types of procedures we are performing here, I feel that patients only need ot be NPO for eight hours.  Can we make some adjustments?

I stared blankly at the surgeon.  He was extremely mart, I respected him greatly and I did not want to disappoint him.  I was so new to the company, I had no idea what NPO meant, let alone had a strong argument or opinion about it.  I replied,

I don’t know Dr. Smith, but we are here to provide a service that works for you.  Why don’t I take it to our clinicians this Thursday at our General Meeting and I’ll get that information for you.

It was all I could think of to say at the moment.  Dr. Smith looked at me, nodded his head, and we moved on with the meeting.  At the conclusion of which, Dr. Smith gestured to me from across the room.  “I wanted to let you know that you did a great job today,” he said as he moved in to shake my hand.  “I knew you didn’t know the answer to the question I asked you during the meeting.”  I smiled.  “I appreciate that you didn’t try to answer it without your clinician here.  We all know you aren’t a clinician and we don’t expeect you to have the experience or answers yet.  I just wanted to encourage you by letting you know that.”  I looked at him, relieved that I hadn’t shaken his confidence in me or the company.

In times of uncertainty, speak the truth.  Your lack of knowledge may not be as detrimental as you think, so long as you are willing to find the answer.

To go along with my personal thoughts on how little you really know when looking at one’s life honestly, I have a few quick tips:

1. If you don’t know something, be honest and offer a solution.  People seem to be okay with an, “I don’t know, but I will find out,” answer.
2. If you offer a solution, follow through.  People don’t care how much you know if they can’t count on you.
3. It is important to have a network around you that knows different than you.
4. If you don’t have an answer, ask another question.
5. If you don’t have an answer or a question, delegate it to someone more qualified.

I’ve also recognized that most of the decisions I’ve made in business have been based more on my character and personal moral compass than education or theory.  Many venues can offer us knowledge, but what you do with that knowledge is the differentiating factor between the mediocre and the truly exceptional people in this world.