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INNOVATION

Do You Know What You Dont

Know?by Art Markman

MAY 03, 2012

You probably dont know as much as you think you do. When put to the t est, most people

find they cant explain the workings of everyday things they think they understand.

Dont believe me? Find an object you use daily (a zipper, a toilet, a stereo speaker) and try to

describe the particulars of how it works. Youre likely to discover unexpected gaps in your

knowledge. In psychology, we call this cognitive barrier the illusion of explanatory depth. It

means you think you fully understand something that you actually dont.

We see this every day in buzz words. Though we often use these words, their meanings are

usually unclear. They mask gaps in our knowledge, serving as placeholders that gloss

concepts we dont fully understand.

For example, several years ago, I attended a corporate meeting where the vice president

spoke aboutstreamliningbusiness practices in the coming year. During the talk, executives

around the room nodded in agreement. Afterward, though, many of them discussed what

streamlining actually meant. None of the people who had nodded in agreement could exact

define the mechanics of howto streamline a business practice.

https://hbr.org/pallotta/2011/11/stop-thinking-outside-the-box.htmlhttps://hbr.org/cs/2012/03/the_hidden_skills_in_your_most.htmlhttps://hbr.org/https://hbr.org/https://hbr.org/https://hbr.org/https://hbr.org/pallotta/2011/11/stop-thinking-outside-the-box.htmlhttps://hbr.org/pallotta/2011/12/i-dont-understand-what-anyone.htmlhttp://scienceblogs.com/mixingmemory/2006/11/the_illusion_of_explanatory_de.phphttps://hbr.org/cs/2012/03/the_hidden_skills_in_your_most.htmlhttps://hbr.org/search?term=art+markmanhttps://hbr.org/topic/innovation

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At the other end of the spectrum, an upsetting instance of knowledge gaps in the last decad

was the profound misunderstanding of complex financial products that contributed to the

market collapse of 2007. Investment banks were unable to protect themselves from exposur

to these products, because only a few people (either buyers or sellers) understood exactly

what was being sold. Those individuals who did comprehend these product structures

ultimately made huge bets against the market using credit-default swaps. The willingness ocompanies like AIG to sell large quantities of credit-default swaps reflected a gap in their

knowledge about the riskiness of products they were insuring.

No matter the scale, discovering your explanatory gaps is essential for aspiring innovators

An undiagnosed gap in knowledge means you might not fully understand a problem. That c

hinder innovative solutions.

To discover the things you cant explain, take a lesson from teachers. When you instruct

someone else, you have to fill the gaps in your own knowledge. But you dont need to wait f

the opportunity to teach someone else:

Explain concepts to yourself as you learn them.Get in the habit of self-teaching. Your

explanations will reveal your own knowledge gaps and identify words and concepts whose

meanings arent clear.

Engage others in collaborative learning.Help identify the knowledge gaps of the people

around you. Ask them to explain difficult concepts, even if you think everyone understands

them. Not only will this help you to work through new ideas, it will occasionally uncover

places where your colleagues dont understand critical aspects of an explanation.

When you do uncover these gaps, treat them as learning opportunities, not signs of weakne

After all, successful innovation rests on the assumption that you and the people around you

have a high-quality understanding of the problem. Sometimes, uncovering the flaw in that

assumption will help you find a solution.

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/creditdefaultswap.asp

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MORE ON KNOCKING DOWN BARRIERS TO INNOVATION

Turn Your Company into a Customer Platform

Managers Dont Really Want to Innovate

Innovators, Are You Applying the Wrong Lessons fromManufacturing?

Dont Cripple Innovation for the Sake of This Quarters Numbers

Art Markman, PhD, is the Annabel Irion Worsham Centennial Professor of Psychology and Marketing at the

University of Texas at Austin and founding director of the program in the Human Dimensions of Organizations. He

has written over 150 scholarly papers on topics including reasoning, decision making, and motivation. He is the

author of several books including Smart Thinking, Smart Change, and Habits of Leadership.

Related Topics: MANAGING YOURSELF

This article is about INNOVATION

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