Growth mindset, beginner’s mind: we are all familiar with these. Their esoteric cousin, “Not knowing is most intimate,” have been preached by sages for centuries. Countless books on this topic got onto Best Seller lists as we yearn for more hacks. I love trying to make sense of this kind of stuff. Let’s get into our lululemon pants, unravel “not knowing,” and #bossbetter.

There are 3 parts of not knowing: The knowing, the un-knowing, and the re-knowing …

Sorry, let me try again.

One approach to “not know” is to treat the unknown as an invitation to learn. Sometimes we turn away and focus on something else when things don’t make sense. Condition ourselves to pause whenever we encounter something that don’t make sense. Accept the invitation. Dive in:

– Your teammate make a pointless comment- find out more.
– A customer decides not to finish the check-out process- investigate!

As we probe, take note of all the explanations appearing in our minds. The first time we think one there is an explanation, intentionally refrain from concluding and probe more. This is a “speed bump” to make us think slower- Daniel Kahneman’s way to battle biases.

“I am thinking ‘He is not motivated.’”
“I need to not thinking that.”
“Ok, what is going on?”