[quote=CardiffBaseball]In any case I find “knowing better” at times to be…very limiting while the clueless are apparently shielded from any self-doubt.[/quote]
Yes that’s an interesting counterpoint to this thread isn’t it? We can congratulate ourselves on not being one of those “too-stupid-to-even-realize-how-stupid-they-are”, but on the other hand, you need some people to go out and take risk and try things, despite conventional “wisdom”.
I once had a valuable discussion with a successful company founder who was reflecting back on what were the pivotal moments and attributes that allowed his company to grow, flourish and ultimately very richly reward him and others.
One thing he said stuck with me which is similar to what CB said. He said something like “At the beginning we were completely naive. If we knew then how difficult it was going to be, we never would have started the company.”
I too have the problem CB describes of sometimes allowing a little knowledge of the difficulties to deter me from embarking in new areas.
It’s interesting to me this interplay of ignorance (perhaps sometimes willful) and its relationship to entrepreneurism and learning. You could even argue it has a bearing on creativity, because if you are letting perceived difficulties deter you from trying something then obviously your “creativity” is affected in that you aren’t creating.
Ignorance is good? Maybe Chutzpah is the proper term here.
