Being the idiot

 Being the idiot

Simon Sinek, an American author and inspirational speaker on business leadership says being an idiot helps. He gives an example where  he was hired by a company and was asked to sit in a meeting where a consultant was making a power point presentation. Everyone in the room was nodding when Simon interrupted and said that he didn’t understand the concept and could the consultant repeat it. It happened several times and he paraphrased if that was what the consultant said. Once he knew the whole concept, he pointed out the flaws. That saved the company thousands of dollars. 

A lengthy example but I chose it because it shows how we can get to the fundamentals of a concept which is presented in a complicated way. Be the idiot and ask questions till it comes down to have the subject explained in simple terms. He applies it in organizational structure but it can be very helpful in our life on a daily basis. So many conflicts can be resolved.

Imagine your partner is angry about a non issue or some misunderstanding. Be the idiot and ask is this what you mean? Ask what do they want to say actually. Once you have that, misunderstanding can be resolved. Parents can have a better relationship with their teenage children, employees with their boss and lot of marital problems can be done away with. Miscommunication is one of the biggest problems in our life be it our work, marriage or friendships. 

Playing the idiot helps. 

So go ahead and be the idiot. 

So be it !!!