The Power of “I Don’t Know”

Somewhere along the line, we mistook confidence for competence. We decided that decisiveness was a mark of good leader. And then we started promoting the most confident deciders…even if their decisions were terrible. The logical end to all of this is that now we struggle with leaders in all domains confidently asserting their thoughts on a certain issue or confidently presenting the solution to a problem they’ve just learned about. We hear that confidence in their voice and it can become all too easy to assume it means they’re presenting a well-thought out plan of action.

The truth is, there is little correlation between confidence and competence. In fact, it can often go the opposite way. More than 20 years ago, psychologist David Dunning and Justin Kruger demonstrated that when people knew very little about a topic or situation, they were very likely to over-assess their knowledge and ability. The less they knew, the more confident they were in their expertise.

Ignorance wasn’t bliss; it was confidence.

And confident ignorance can lead to disaster.

For leaders, a powerful antidote is simple acknowledging that you don’t know. When you’re asked a question you don’t know the answer to, just say “I don’t know” and then commit to finding the answer. When your asked for your advice on a situation, you can just say “I don’t…