Careful With “I Don’t Knows”

I don't know

It’s awfully easy to tell when someone is lying if you’re focused on their responses to your questions. This goes for interviewing, talking to coworkers, and asking friends what they think about your shirt.

What I love is when people respond with “I don’t know.”

Their response and what they do after it says more than a piece of truth or a lie ever would. “Not knowing” falls under two categories.

The first is simply because no one told them. They haven’t read it online. They haven’t sought out a teacher for it. This is fixable thanks to Google and the connection economy. If you want to find someone to teach you the guitar, you’re just a Google search or FB status away.

The second response is the “I don’t know”…”and I don’t care to find out.”

At first it may sound rude of them, but ask yourself what’s the reason they don’t want to find out. What are they afraid of? Why don’t they care? Would it be your job to motivate them? Because that’s your job as a marketer, to practice motivating people to overcome their fears.

While it may be best practice to hand-pick the talented, perhaps you yourself can become a bit more skillful by providing the pressure, the support, the care to get your friends, your coworkers, your candidates to turn their “I don’t knows” into “I cans,” I wills,” and maybe even “I now knows…thank you.”

 

Stay Positive & Beggars Can’t Be Choosers, But They Can Be Teachers

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Garth Beyer
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