Are you a Learner or a Knower

I was speaking to a group of senior business leaders last week on the subject of learning as a source of competitive advantage (not my usual topic but I am very, very passionate about learning!).

I made the bold statement "it is now virtually impossible to predict the future by studying the past" and encouraged them to learn on the move in their businesses.

The world is changing so fast that when you wake up in the morning it has changed from the night before!

The really scary thing (well it scared me anyway!) that I told the leaders was "what makes you succesful in the first place can make you unsuccessful if you don't keep aware of the changes that are happening..."

The annals of commercial history are littered with failed companies who kept on doing what had once made them successful, only to suddenly find out the world had changed.

I concluded by discussing the danger of leaders as 'KNOWERS'.  Leaders are often expected to KNOW the answer to business problems and to solve them. However, when you assume you KNOW the answer you will often filter available evidence to support what you already KNOW.  And in this fast changing world you simply can't KNOW the answer to everything.

When you adopt the mindset of a LEARNER you are open to new ideas and what might be possible rather then what you KNOW to be probable.

My parting shot was to say that your job as a leader is not to know the answer. Your job as a leader is to ask the right questions.  Of your people, of your organisation and -most importantly - of yourself.

What do you think? (That was a question by the way!)