The three wise monkeys – almost
bythemethod | March 3, 2008Mark H. McCormack in his book “What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School” highlights three phrases that those who wish to be successful in business should learn to use.
“I don’t know”. “I need help”. “I was wrong”.
“I don’t know” makes you look smarter than saying you always know. Why? First it’s obvious to everyone that you don’t know everything and not being willing to admit that is pure arrogance and because even if you do know nearly everything you have convince people that this is so. People simply don’t believe that another person is always right. So anyone who never admits to not knowing is suspicious and soon everything they say becomes suspicious. It is a wise man who understands that he doesn’t know everything and a foolish man who believes he does. If you want to get ahead you need to be wise not foolish.
“I need help” is not an acknowledgement of weakness but an admission that sometimes its better to have help. Sometimes a job is so important or so demanding that it can only be done properly with help from another. It’s through asking for help that we learn and grow. Of course this also means that we need to be the kind of person who helps others.
“I was wrong”. To be wrong is not an admission of weakness it’s an admission of bravery. It tells others that you tried hard but you were wrong. If you are going to be successful you will make a lot of mistakes on the way. It comes with the territory of success. Being willing to admit to mistakes is very important if you are going to succeed. It says to others that you are wise enough to know you make mistakes and brave enough to risk making mistakes. It’s an old cliche that the person who never made a mistake never made anything. This is a wise cliche. Don’t actively seek out mistakes but understand that to succeed you are going to have to make some mistakes.
