Happened to read a great interview in Business Insider from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Ever since he took over Microsoft, the tech giant has been on the news for all the right reasons.
The one part of the interview that I personally liked is where he quotes from the book Mindset, by the Stanford Professor, Carol Dweck.
Nadella: I was reading it not in the context of business or work culture, but in the context of my children’s education. The author describes the simple metaphor of kids at school. One of them is a “know-it-all” and other is a “learn-it-all”, and the “learn-it-all” always will do better than the other one even if the “know-it-all” kid starts with much more innate capability.
How relevant and profound is that statement on “Learn-it-all”, in today’s context, where the world around is changing at a pace that most of us cannot even keep up with. These days, no one can claim to be an expert at anything. Even if you do, you are inflicting a huge harm on yourself to shut yourself behind a wall that can curtail your growth and progress.
We are all good at something, but not good enough to be an expert at anything. Being perceived as an expert also carries with it a huge baggage of living upto it.
The moment you turn yourself into a learner mode, your focus is not that of how you would be perceived by others. Instead you are open to fresh ideas and join others in the pursuit of knowledge, and along the way sharing your part on whatever you know.
Knowledge is so vast, that there is always something interesting to learn every day from everyone, as long as we have our receptive antenna open.
If at all you need one skill to master in today’s scenario, it is around Continuous Learning and there is no better time to be an avid learner than now.
So, the best goal one can set for thyself is not that of a ‘know it all’, but that of a ‘Learn it all’.
