The Key That Unlocks the Golden Door to Wisdom

The only locks in life are what you think you know, but don’t. Accept your ignorance and try something new. ~ Dennis Vickers

One of my greatest life lessons I learned on page 16 of my colleague and friend's book "A Whack on the Side of the Head". I read these words 4 decades ago. I never forgot them. Here is what Roger von Oech wrote:

A creativity teacher invited one of his students over to his house for afternoon tea. They talked for a bit, and then came time for tea. The teacher poured some into the student's cup. Even after the cup was full, he continued to pour. The cup overflowed and tea spilled on to the floor. Finally the student said: "Master, you must stop pouring; the tea is overflowing - it's not going into the cup." The teacher replied, "That's very observant. The same is true with you. If you are to receive new teachings, you must first empty out what you have in your mental up."

Moral: We need the ability to unlearn what we already know.

Unlearning what we already know may be the most important learning skill of all. It's easier said than done. We get wrapped up in our ideas - even to the point where we start to think that we are our ideas. But, we're not. This is not about your values per se. Rather, it's about genuine curiosity, and willingness to be teachable, to learn, to change.

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Integrating prior learnings into our thinking and behaviour can become so complete that we are no longer aware of them. They become habits, and we become prisoners of familiarity.

This brings us back to wisdom. Wisdom, I think, is the art and science of seeing people, issues, and ideas from multiple perspectives, not just our own. Stated differently, it's hard to read the label when you're inside the bottle.

So what to do?

Develop the habit of asking questions. When someone is speaking, instead of thinking of your reply, think of a good question. A good question is almost always better than a good answer. Here's something to try: At the beginning of your next conversation when are tempted to give your opinion ask a question. Note what happens. You may discover that being teachable becomes your super-power.

We get wise by asking questions, and even if these are not answered, we (still) get wiser. ~ Peter Abelard

Remember, it's not the answers that enlighten us, it's the questions.

Thanks for reading. You are a genius!

This article was first published in Terry Small's Brain Bulletin newsletter.

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