Its smart to be 'dumb'

It is smart to be ‘dumb’. By ‘dumb’ I don’t mean retarded but I mean lacking in knowledge in a given area. When you’re dumb, you are like a newborn baby…you know nothing and because you know nothing, you are eager to learn as much as possible. It’s my personal belief that being the smartest person in the room is very limiting. Even though you will be the go to guy when people are seeking answers, there is ONE major disadvantage of this which is… lack of growth. As a young person fresh out of University and full of ideas, the worst thing you can do to is to put yourself in situations that limit your growth. Your youth years are meant for exploration, experiments, huge risks and many, many failures. This in turn molds you into a better version of yourself each time and you grow as person. However, all this cannot happen when you know more than the people who surround you. It is often said that your network is your net worth and if your network is full of team Wamlambez, then my friend you are in big trouble.

Michael Dell, founder of Dell, once said “Try never to be the smartest person in the room. And if you are, I suggest you invite smarter people…or find a different room”. That quote resonates with me and I find its better to humble yourself especially in areas you don’t know anything and surround yourself with people who are more knowledgeable than you. If you let your pride get in the way, you are highly susceptible to ignoring other’s ideas and suggestions. This will lead you to making silly mistakes that could have easily being avoided. After all, pride does come before a fall.

If you want to be successful in your work and most importantly in life, you should always be conscious about your short comings as a person. A great reason to work with people who think different is the variance in ideas and opinions. Often you will find simpler solutions to problems that you had overthought and came up with complex solution.

   “The only time you should be the smartest person in the room is when you are in the toilet’’ - Kioria

Picture this scenario, you are in a room with the top 1% in the world. I am talking about high achieving CEOs, athletes, entrepreneurs etc. You are there with Elon Musk, Bill Gates and the likes. Suddenly, you realize you are a very small fish in a BIG ocean. There is very little you can tell these high achieving individuals let alone give them advice on one or two things. On the flipside, the potential of learning is so much it’s almost unfair.

You will be able to get decades of wisdom in just a few short minutes, get connections worth billions, problems that you were bothering you for days, solved in a sentence or two. If you are smart, you position yourself like a sponge and just absorb it all. One of the areas where it is smart to be ‘dumb’.