“School trains us never to admit that we do not know the answer, and most corporations reinforce that lesson by rewarding the people who excel in advocating their views, not inquiring into complex issues. (When was the last time someone was rewarded in your organisation for raising difficult questions about the company’s current policies rather than solving the urgent problems?” Even if we feel uncertain or ignorant, we learn to protect ourselves from the pain of appearing uncertain or ignorant. That very process blocks out any new understandings which might threaten us. The consequence is what Argyris call “skilled incompetence” – teams full of peoples who are incredibly proficient at keeping themselves from learning. Senge 1990:25
There is something I don’t know
that I am supposed to know.
I don’t know what it is I don’t know
and yet am supposed to know,
and I feel I look stupid
if I seem both not to know it
and not know what it is I don’t know.
Therefore I pretend to know it.
This is nerve-racking
since I don’t know what I must pretend to know.
Therefore I pretend to know everything.
Laing (1970:56)