These are sample questions from competent, strong-willed people who recognize that they don’t have all the knowledge and skills they need, and then take action to do something about it. The act is called "strategic humility," and we label these individuals as "open-minded strategists." They collect riches by unashamedly recognizing their deficiencies and asking directional questions. In the process, they are able to generate the helpful answers to their queries, and generate the wealth of information that make them wiser and more effective in what they do.
Admitting a lack of knowledge or expertise, and seeking help to acquire it requires a high level of self-confidence. We are not embarrassed to seek guidance from superiors, or assistance from subordinates in doing things that we are not so sure about. The self-confidence can be hard to muster when we feel inadequate in a situation, but it always pays off, as the meteoric success of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream company aptly illustrates.
Ben & Jerry’s story is a classic example of business built around the concept of "linked prosperity," which ensured that all employees shared in the profits of the corporation from its very inception. Despite the warnings and criticisms that this business philosophy will not work, the maverick ice-cream makers remained true to their cause-related ideals.
While they knew that their unconventional practices might limit their profits, they believed that customers would gladly and willingly pay a little more for high-quality products if they respected the company’s strong business ethics and commitment to social and environmental responsibility. The unorthodox approach worked, and the rest is marketing history as documented in Ben & Jerry’s case book and Emmet C. Murphy’s The New Murphy’s Law.
Murphy relates that after nearly 20 years of success, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield found themselves in a difficult situation. The consumer demand for their product was escalating so rapidly they could not keep up with it. With the company’s skyrocketing sales, the partners did not feel that they could competently steer the operation through this period of runaway growth.
Ben & Jerry were in touched with their feeling of incapability. They admitted their insufficiency to grow the business all by themselves. They knew what they didn’t know –the lack of adroitness to manage the next phase of their company’s growth, and as such sought help to move it. After an extensive professional search, they hired Robert Holland Jr. as the new chief executive officer.
Holland believed in Ben & Jerry’s values-based business philosophy, and steered the company through its big growth stage with leadership and poise. He expanded the operation to many new international and domestic locations, introduced new products, and saw to it that the new production plant was running smoothly.
Murphy believes that Ben & Jerry’s decision to hire outside help proved the power of practicing strategic humility, one of the most difficult aspects of making things go right. As difficult as it may be, there are sound motivations for admitting to ourselves that we don’t know everything we need to know to succeed in our businesses and in our lives.
Humility, far from signifying weakness or low self-esteem, signals extraordinary maturity and self-assurance. Recognizing and acknowledging our limitations allows us to replace pessimism with optimism. Things can only go right if we close the gap between what we know, and what we don’t know, and that means enlisting the help of others who know what we don’t know or who can do what we can’t do. Murphy shares the following lessons in strategic humility that we can easily apply to our own lives:
Lesson 1: Define what we don’t know or can’t do. Let us not ever pretend we know how to do something then embarrass ourselves when we can’t perform. Whenever we discover a gap, seek the help of others. There is no point feeling uncomfortable about it. Ben & Jerry’s case demonstrated this point clearly.
Lesson 2: Make the most of what we do know. Disney animator Chuck Jones undoubtedly admitted he couldn’t draw like Leonardo da Vinci, his idol, but he could fashion cartoon characters that leapt from the screen into the viewers’ heart. This self-awareness led Jones to fame and glory, bringing to our consciousness many fanciful and fun characters like Wile E. Coyote, the Roadrunner, Pepe Le Pew, and Marvin the Martian, among others. These magnificent creations won him three Oscar awards, establishing him as a superior practitioner of his craft. Paradoxically, most of us both know less than we think and more than we realize. We should try to consider both sides of the coin as we move towards our goals.
Lesson 3: Respect others and they will respect us. We will not lose respect when we ask help from others. Let us examine ourselves. Have we ever accepted as gospel the opinions of a superior just because of that person’s rank? Conversely, do we ever dismiss the opinions of subordinates because of their lower position on the ladder? Does reliance on the opinions of those above or below us lower or raise our self-esteem? Respect engenders respect. People we ask for assistance will usually admire us for owning up to our shortcomings and trying to overcome them.
Lesson 4: Look at life as a never-ending learning experience. At any point in our continuing education, we should never ever say, "That’s all I really need to know." We should view each day as an opportunity to learn something new, and should not be surprised to find out that someone knows more about a subject than we do, even if we are acknowledged as leading experts on that subject. Constantly see ourselves as students who every day go to school eager to gain new knowledge and skills.
Lesson 5: Never forget that others look to us. Remain open to teach, coach and mentor others who may need our help. View ourselves through the eyes of others and see ourselves as they see us. Aim to be positive role models. A good teacher never abandons the role of a student, and every good student accepts the role of teacher to those who need help. Let us act every day as a student-teacher.
Based on these lessons, Murphy emphasizes, consider whether we need to change our goals, or look for ways to gain more knowledge and skills that will achieve them. Consistently practice strategic humility and gain from it. As Will Henry says, "An open mind collects more riches than an open purse."