Biggest Problem With Having Knowledge

Imagine that you have spent a dozen years learning a certain area of expertise.

You have read tons of books.

You have discovered millions of paths within that area and mastered them all.

You have participated in a variety of projects and made them successful.

You have talked to hundreds of experts and adopted their experience.

You have written and published the whole lot of articles.

And you have got to the point where you are so enlightened that you have an answer to any question that might have been asked.

You are a true professional ready to make the world better.

Do you know what your next problem is?

Ha, you don’t know it yet, do you? Well, you will find out soon.

The problem is, you cannot share your knowledge with anyone.

Not because you don’t want to. Not because you don’t know the language of your audience. Not because you are greedy and withhold the information.

You want to share your knowledge, but… Well… How should I put it?

Try sharing your knowledge with ordinary people and see what happens.

You will hit a wall - and I suggest you be careful, do not run too fast. Because that wall is hard.

What happens when you try to share your experience is:

• Nobody understands you
• Some people will praise your experience, but find it not suitable for their cases
• Some people will find you smart but falling out of common trends
• Some people will find you wrong
• Some people will think that you are an idiot

End of story.

Why does it happen?

Well, in simple words, you have walked a long road to get your wisdom. You have learned A, then moved from A to B, from B to C, from C to D, and eventually you have got from Y to Z.

Now, you are trying to explain Z to people who have never bothered to learn A. So, the only relevant experience they have in the area is equal to common sense.

Common sense is a good thing, but it is a thousand miles away from professional knowledge.

So you end up being misunderstood and considered a nerd.

What do you do?

Honestly? I don’t know. I know that Jesus used proverbs to deliver ideas to the audience. You can try that, but as far as I remember, proverbs did not help much either. What I remember about Jesus is:

• He was misinterpreted
• He was claimed to be out of trends and even possessed by the devil
• He was treated as danger
• He was killed

Jesus was a true professional.

You have deep knowledge in an area? Keep it to yourself. Do your job and stay alive.

There can be exceptions though. You can sell your opinion to others and get away with it. That happens if they respect you more than they understand you.

So work hard to earn that respect. Hope you will have it in the end.

Hey, product owners and startupers! When you gather a team of professionals, do you mind putting a little bit of trust in them?

Maybe you will get successful application of their skills in return.