4 ms·

In my experience, saying "I don't know" outside of an academic environment leads to two consequences: 1) People will stop listening to you in preference to loud

In my experience, saying "I don't know" outside of an academic environment leads to two consequences: 1) People will stop listening to you in preference to loud people who "know"; 2) Loud people who know will use your admission against you. Sadly, the good habits that you learn in academia will come back to haunt you when you move into industry.

schizoidboy 8y ago
I doubt there are statistics on such things, so we'll have to deal in anecdotes, and I've had the total opposite experience (I make this comment so that any young people or academics aren't prematurely jaded). When a lot is at stake (e.g. high revenue, medicine, infrastructure, etc.), especially when a team has been burned by loud people, a person who says, "I don't know, but let's figure it out" (that's my job) is prized.
- dionidium 8y ago
  This is also my experience. I've heard the claims in this thread (i.e. that people who pretend to know things get ahead, while those who admit that they don't know stuff are never trusted) my entire life, but I've always thought, "who are these people talking about?" Whenever I've worked with a blowhard who couldn't admit when they didn't know something literally everybody smart thought of them as a blowhard who couldn't admit when they didn't know something.
  - type0 8y ago
    > literally everybody smart ... Too bad this excludes so many managers, but really this is so much a company culture issue than anything. So to cite from the article: "very few companies are capable of making significant changes in their culture or business model, so it is good for companies eventually to go out of business, thereby opening space for better companies in the future."
ssss11 8y ago
In the corporate world: completely agree.
msangi 8y ago
The key is not saying "I don't know" and end the conversation. You should give advices on where to find the information needed and who is in a best position to answer. I've done it plenty of times and my colleagues keep coming back to me when they need help.
sorokod 8y ago
This may be true, but doesn't make the loud person credible. Not even in the eyes of the people who are happy to listen to such person.

schizoidboy 8y ago

I doubt there are statistics on such things, so we'll have to deal in anecdotes, and I've had the total opposite experience (I make this comment so that any young people or academics aren't prematurely jaded). When a lot is at stake (e.g. high revenue, medicine, infrastructure, etc.), especially when a team has been burned by loud people, a person who says, "I don't know, but let's figure it out" (that's my job) is prized.

dionidium 8y ago
This is also my experience. I've heard the claims in this thread (i.e. that people who pretend to know things get ahead, while those who admit that they don't know stuff are never trusted) my entire life, but I've always thought, "who are these people talking about?" Whenever I've worked with a blowhard who couldn't admit when they didn't know something literally everybody smart thought of them as a blowhard who couldn't admit when they didn't know something.
- type0 8y ago
  > literally everybody smart ... Too bad this excludes so many managers, but really this is so much a company culture issue than anything. So to cite from the article: "very few companies are capable of making significant changes in their culture or business model, so it is good for companies eventually to go out of business, thereby opening space for better companies in the future."

ssss11 8y ago

In the corporate world: completely agree.

msangi 8y ago

The key is not saying "I don't know" and end the conversation. You should give advices on where to find the information needed and who is in a best position to answer. I've done it plenty of times and my colleagues keep coming back to me when they need help.

sorokod 8y ago

This may be true, but doesn't make the loud person credible. Not even in the eyes of the people who are happy to listen to such person.