I never grew up wanting to be a “boss.” It was never my desire to order, or even direct, people. But as it turned out I found myself in the leadership position of a number of groups over my working years. I was always of the opinion that if you clearly defined what was expected of someone and gave them the resources needed to accomplish it, a “boss” wasn’t necessary.
But nonetheless, I found myself being in charge of a number of programs and projects over the years. The one thing that irritated me the most were employees that attempted to convince me that they knew something they didn’t or that gave me incorrect information.
For some reason, it seems difficult for some people to simply say, “I don’t know.” I don’t know is a perfectly acceptable answer to me. No one knows everything and I’d much rather hear that from someone than have them “blow smoke” or try to “snow” me.
I’m not sure why people can’t just say, “I don’t know” — if they don’t. Maybe it’s something they should know or maybe something they wished they knew. I can’t say that its a particularly nice feeling to say you don’t know something, but as I said, no one knows everything and we all experience not knowing. I remember in school, the teacher asking me questions and I often had to say I didn’t know. Sometimes the teacher seemed a little angry or maybe sometimes disappointed, but he/she would have been more angry/disappointed had I tried to make something up.
I don’t necessarily think the words “I don’t know” means a lack of knowledge, but some people think that using that phrase gives the impression that one is not as smart as he’s led people to believe.
Not that it matters so much to me anymore, but I still wonder why people are reluctant to use those three words. Why? I don’t know….
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