Confucius was one smart cookie!!

Preparing my seminar I remembered a concept that I heard from another seminar that I attended.  Basically they set the stage by drawing two circles.  The first circle represented all the information that we "Know" and what "We don't know".  Then he drew a circle that represented what "we don't know that we don't know".  It almost seemed comical at the time and during those tender years I don't think I completely got what they were trying to say.  But times have changed and I'm planning on starting the seminar with the following quotes.

Confucius said, "You know what you know and you don't know what you don't know.  That is knowledge."   This seems pretty basic, but there is an underlying theme that most people do not realize until they read further, this is another fine quote he follows up with, "You know what you know, you think that you know what you actually don't know, and  you even think that you know what you don't know that you don't know.  That is not knowledge."

I had to laugh when it finally set in my thick skull. Confucius was a genius and many of us run around every day thinking we "know what we don't know".  He didn't the last quote as arrogance, but it's pretty darn close without having to say it directly.  

So when you think about past borrowers, clients, spouses, friends, associates, think about the times that you think you already know what they want to think, act, feel or say.  That my friend is "arrogance", because they may know what you don't know.

I think that concept alone is the reason for allot of strife and chaos in relationships.  If we could just slow down and think about this concept before launching into a sales presentation, or already assuming that we understand someone's needs, then we'd be much more successful at sales, and perhaps life.

Just some quick thoughts this morning, hope you all enjoyed them.....