The Stages of Knowing (Rumsfeld for Coaches)

At this point, a lot of the people who read this will have know idea who Donald Rumsfeld was–he was a career executive within the federal government, quite competent, but mostly known for fun poked at him for a comment made about ‘known knowns’ and ‘known unknowns’. The thing is–when you stop making fun of him, he’s right. It’s important to recognize what you know and where you are lacking.

So–really, doesn’t that apply to how we evolve as coaches and teachers? I think we are trying to get to Stage 4 here…but that’s hard–and certainly not possible without making a load of mistakes along the way. I think the issue is always personal ego and hubris.

There’s probably an element of emotional maturity involved in these, too, and I think other aspects of life can affect the ability to move from stage to stage as well…Lord knows becoming a parent altered my perspective on things by 90 degrees.

Stage 1: We begin clueless. Effectively we have no idea just how much we don’t know. Ultimately, having coached at several places now, I think you wind up here at ANY new job you take. The issue is how quickly are you able to move onwards. Stage 2: At a certain point, we learn the limits of our knowledge–we learn just exactly what it is that we don’t know. That’s important because it can help guide us with where we need to fill in our knowledge. It helps set priorities. (Will you ever fill in all the gaps??–no…and frankly, every time I learn something, I realize I have two new questions based on what I learned) Stage 3: This is where you lead from your knowledge–taking into account what you still do not know and need help with…a great place for hiring an assistant with different skills, by the way. Stage 4: At this point, you have learned enough that running a program, leading, is done almost by reflex or muscle memory–you don’t need to take conscious effort to recall past problems and automatically know when to ask for help or permit an assistant to step forward to share their expertise.

Thoughts? If it was Rumsfeld, I think we’d have just three stages: 1. Unknown knowns and unknowns 2. Known unknowns 3. Known knowns.

My point…I think we have to be conscious of our coaching egos–what we know, what we don’t, and that it is always okay to admit a lack of knowledge or that someone else has more. The quote (I’ve lost the exact words and author) with this I keep in mind–you never want to be the smartest person in a group…because that stifles your ability to grow.