What you know vs what you do

Not so long ago if you sprained your ankle you would make an appointment to go see your doctor. There you would be told the first aid basics, given a prescription and probably told to go see a physiotherapist. Today you are more likely to look up ‘ankle sprain’ on Google, follow the instructions on a number of websites, and then after a few days if there is no improvement go to a health professional. The world has changed. Knowledge used to be a commodity people traded in; you went to see someone for what they knew. Today people are more interested in what you can do and how you do it.

Information is easy to obtain in an electronic age. Enter a few great search parameters and at the click of a button all you need is on your screen. More than ever people are giving information away. Podcasts broadcast for free; you just have to take the time to listen. Information is available; finding it, using it and being a rockstar in your business with it are harder. These are the skills people are hiring for today. So you get an ‘A-star’ for maths at A-level...the knowledge of maths may not be a great asset. Now persuade me that you got that grade because you developed a knack for solving problems and I may be more interested. Take that problem solving, apply it with initiative and creativity to make yourself indispensible in my company and I will pay anything to retain you.

Information on its own is passionless. There is no emotion to it. How you present that information, how you tell the story of it, what you do with it matters. It is a massive shift to come from an education system that has been founded on information retention and recall and walk into a business world that is increasingly characterised by more vocational type traits. Professions around the world are under threat because the information they were consulted for is now freely available. To make the transition they have to offer something more than just a transaction, there has to be a relationship, a skill and an emotional component. Expanding the doctor example above; if the practitioner creates an environment where you feel genuine care then clients are more likely to go back-even if they can get the information elsewhere.

Jeanne Grant is an architect in Chicago. Listening to her talk you get the sense that she is not just in the ‘design a building’ trade, rather she is helping to design and transform communities. Her creations are socially transformative, environmentally beneficial, based on interaction with communities and finding out what people really want from the projects her firm creates. She has gone far beyond the mere knowledge of architecture to doing the exceptional with it.

Knowledge locks you into a field. Doing expands your horizons far beyond your initial training. Shah Selbe is an engineer for Boeing. That has been his ‘day-job’ for years. He is also at the forefront of research into marine conservation and fish anti-poaching efforts and has been recognised by National Geographic for his efforts. His engineering knowledge has given him a unique take on problem solving, but he is using these processes in areas far beyond the traditional field. If he had let himself be defined by knowledge then he would probably be constructing waterworks for some city, rather he is exploring a passion and bringing global transformation with what he does.

Knowledge makes you selfish. In the past when information has been a rare commodity people have held onto knowledge, protected it, and forced others to pay a premium for it. Now obviously some knowledge is worth holding onto-the formula for Coca Cola for example. Sharing information, sharing knowledge within an organisation can propel a company forward far more rapidly than a culture where people are holding onto what they know because it may get them a promotion. Doing often requires you to share with others in order to be more productive.

Whether you like it or not the world has shifted away from a knowledge driven state. You can continue to fight a rear guard action against it or you can embrace the future and become a linchpin in society. It is a rather liberating experience.