I am in KL with 3 school friends from more than half a lifetime ago for a long weekend of Euro Championship football, great food and most importantly, great conversations.
Two nights ago, the whiskey-enabled conversation turned to important lessons we’d learnt in our careers.
A friend H shared this perspective: In every critical situation that required a major decision, he asked himself “What don’t I know about this situation?”
I hadn’t thought about it this way before but I realize he’s on to something here.
“What don’t I know?” makes us step back to see the bigger picture.
WDIK makes us acknowledge that we don’t always know everything.
It makes us invite other perspectives we might benefit from.
And it forces us to put aside whatever emotion we might feel in the moment, and to cognitively say “I don’t understand that part of the equation yet.”
And when WDIK is well answered, it invariably leads us down a better path.
WDIK might cause us to do more research, or seek a second opinion from a colleague, department or client etc.
Whatever it is, it will make our ultimate decision better informed.
So this week, as life throws their curveballs at us again, may we ask ourselves, “WDIK?”
We may just be surprised – positively – by the answer.