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 If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and review it on iTunes. For automatic delivery of new episodes, be sure to subscribe. As always, thanks for listening!