The Novice Advantage

The beauty of a novice is ignorance. Beginners haven’t learned what can’t be done. People with untested skills dream bigger than experts.

Novices underestimate difficulty and oversimplify complexity.

New Challenges make us novices again. Image of a pair of sneakers for a toddler.

Theory and practice:

Everything seems easy-until you do it. The geniuses who aren’t doing the job know less than the people doing the work.

First-time managers know about management like single people know about marriage. Rookies understand managing like a couple without children understand raising children.

Knowing about is a shadow. The substance is practical know-how. It’s ridiculous for VPs who’ve never done work to tell people how to do the work.

Humility for novices:

When you learn you don’t know humility results. Doing explodes the myth of perceived knowledge. The gift of humility is learning.

Let novices try things even if you think they might fail. Who knows? They might succeed. Children learn to respect their parents after they have their own children.

Respect follows humility. Provide opportunities for people to seek help.

You’re a novice if you haven’t done the work. Respect people’s frustrations even when they aren’t your frustrations. Judge others through the lens of their strengths, not yours.

Respect other’s challenges even if they aren’t yours.

Don’t talk down to people just because you think you know their job. It might be easy for you to speak in public. That doesn’t mean it’s easy for others.

How can leaders maximize the novice mind?



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