CM 041: Liz Wiseman on Why Learning Beats Knowing

Do you fear becoming obsolete? Liz Wiseman offers a solution. Rather than run from challenging roles, seek them out. In fact, in a world where 85 percent of your knowledge could be irrelevant in as little as 5 years, this strategy may be the key to maintaining and advancing a successful career.

Liz is the bestselling author of Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work. She helps us see how taking on a new challenge, especially when it feels like a stretch, gives us the best chance of staying relevant in an ever-changing world. She also points out the immense value of rookies for our organizations, particularly in leadership and mentoring roles traditionally reserved for more experienced workers.

A frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review, Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Inc. and Time, Liz has been named one of the top 10 leadership thinkers in the world, and her firm has worked with organizations like Apple, Disney, eBay and Google.

In this conversation, we talk about:

Why what we know is less important than how fast we can learn
Why we should take jobs that we are not qualified for
How experience may get in the way of what we most need to learn
How experience can actually decrease our relevance and performance over time
How choosing jobs that involve inquiry and discovery will keep us relevant
Why one of the most valuable aspects of learning something new is the struggle involved
Why rookies bring in 5 times the expertise of experts
Why we need to watch out for mediocre thinking to stay relevant
The link between surfing with the rookies and testing your assumptions
What effective reverse mentoring looks like
Why the word leadership may not mean what you think
Anti-perfectionism and the power of keeping things small

Liz is curious about what distinguishes between a rookie and a novice with rookie smarts. She wonders why some people persist while others give up. She is equally curious about why so many senior leaders look and feel so broken and what we can do about it.

Episode Links

@LizWiseman

The Wiseman Group

Oracle and Oracle University and Larry Ellison

Fortran

Growth Mindset and Carol Dweck

Stretch by Karie Willyerd

Herminia Ibarra and Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader

Bob Hurley of Hurley International

Wayne Bartholomew

C K Prahalad of the University of Michigan

Pareto Principle

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