What Do You Know That Others Don't?

Many of us have been brought up in the belief that knowledge is power. The more we have that others don't the more advantage we have over them. That belief is now as out of date as our first PC's and just as useful.

Here is a way to think that is the exact opposite: What do I know, that I suspect someone else (identify a specific person) does not know, that if they did know it would be useful to them? When you have answered that question, then share it with them? In other words generously give your knowledge away to others who could use it. Don't be scared of this idea. First, with  knowledge, unlike money, you still have it after you have given it away. And, knowledge is not scarce - we are swimming in it.

Conversely, here is a useful question to ask of friends and colleagues: What do you know, that you suspect I don't know, that would be useful to me? And, if need be, gently remind them that they will not be knowledge poorer afterwards.

The advent of the websites like, Google, Wikipedia, Citizendium,  ChaCha , and so on, means that our access to information and knowledge is literally at our finger tips. So much so that we can easily be overwhelmed with unfiltered information - information overload on steroids.

In our private lives, and especially at work, we need to create some practices for information filtering. Some context for ourselves, and for our friends and colleagues, to know what information we want to know about, and what information we want to actively exclude?

Which brings us back to some fundamental questions that most of us are noodling on most of the time:

1. What am I committed to, interested in, trying to move forward - the larger meaning and purpose of my life questions?
2. What am I accountable for and responsible for?
3. What specific projects do I have on the go - with clear outcomes to produce by a specific when?
4. What problems am I trying to solve where I could do with some help? 
5. What stops, blocks and thwarts me?
6. What are my values, my fundamental organizing principles? 

The clearer we are about our answers to each of these questions, the easier it will be to be selective, a) in dealing with unsolicited incoming information, and b) in seeking out the people with information that will help us.

One potential use of networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace and so on, is that they create an opportunity for us to say what we are up to, what interests us, what we are at work on and so on. The more we know about other people the easier it is to help them - assuming we recognize the value in helping. And, it is easier to ask for help from others to. An opportunity that most of us underutilize.

That said, one networking site has this as a condition of membership, "TO BE A MEMBER, you must believe that YOU CAN"T SUCEED ALONE - and why would you want to? We are all expected to share freely and often. We agree to make this a place where we extend a hand to each other - our stories, words of encouragement, or advice that will make a difference."

Wow! "share freely and often", and "you can't succeed alone", really? Doesn't that thinking fly in the face of the independent pioneering spirit that is supposed to have made America strong? Yes, yes, and yes! 

Sharing, being generous, helping and being open to be helped, is part of the Web 2.0, Succeeding in Life 2.0, world that is radically changing our view about what works, really works - it is a key element of what it takes to build a network, a community, an organization, ... of supportive relationships in the service of some shared purpose.

Can you imagine what work life would be like if one of the conditions for promotion was you had to give away everything you knew to people who could use it for their growth and development, and you had to reach out and help people to be successful, and you had to demonstrate you were open to being helped by others in your own pursuits. That actually could be an environment in which people would grow and thrive - and, love coming to work.