Guru or Fool?

"Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."
~Steve Jobs

In the past several weeks, I've been noticing a pattern.  I've seen words like "Guru", "A-lister" etc. next to my name—and it's freaking me out.  Don't get me wrong—this aint about coming across as humble, nor it is an attempt to dictate how I'm labeled.  What makes me nervous is what would happen if I started believing these labels.

Here's the thing—I believe in "The Curse of Knowledge" as Dan and Chip Heath put it.  And I believe that when you know too much—it takes away from your creativity and your ability to see things from different perspectives.  I've been thinking about this quite it bit.  I've been having mixed feelings regarding the specialized degrees that are being marketed to us, promising to turn us into design thinkers, creative strategists etc.  Steve Jobs, the original design thinker was a college drop out.  What does this tell us?

I'm happy to see the business world take creative problem solving seriously and I'm certainly not against higher education or any of the new programs.  But I'm also wary of what happens when we perceive ourselves as experts who have been trained in the black art of [insert profession here].

I started this blog because I was hungry.  I was most certainly foolish.  I had no idea what on earth I was doing—and that sense of wonder freed me from any restrictions or limitations I might have otherwise been put upon myself.  There was no "Guru-sim" involved, and no formal education or even work experience could have taught me to open a Typepad account and make the transformation from spectator to participant.

That was an act of foolishness on my part.  I was foolish enough to believe that people would come here.  I was hungry enough to spend my downtime producing content and talking to people vs. watching the tube.  So, you can call me whatever you like—but for my own sanity check, I'm going to stay hungry and foolish.  Sir Ken Robinson put it best—we sometimes "live in our heads".  That's what the curse of knowledge can do to us.  If you have 20 minutes to spare, I'd stop what you are doing and watch his video.  Good for the head, soul and absolutely 100% foolish.

Comments

[Ike]

David, you are absolutely right! You are a genius! I've never thought about this concept before!

Thank you for shedding light on this! Only a "true guru" would question his own gururity!

(Okay, I don't know if that is a word. But imagine the cheering throng from "Life of Brian" eating up your every word.)

[C.C. Chapman]

How could I resist checking out this post when I saw the tweet. It is weird what people will stick next to someone's name. I've been going through it as well.

The suggestion to watch a TED video ended the post nicely. They ALWAYS keep me grounded and make me think in ways I'm never ready for.

Stay hungry. I'll keep reading.

[Matthew]

Hey David,

Love the reflexivity. I think there's a lot more value in being the "glue" then the "guru" - something that you've done very well.

[Jamey]

Wow. Excellent video to illustrate the point of exploring our own creativity without necessarily using education to establish our expertise or 'guru' status.

[Roger von Oech]

David: You've touched on a number of topics in this post, but the one I'll respond to is the first one you mentioned:

"I've seen words like 'Guru', 'A-lister' etc. next to my name—and it's freaking me out."

I'm not sure someone can be called a "guru" just by writing a blog and doing lots of posts. What's necessary IMHO is taking some ideas, and then thinking about them and then playing with them and then thinking about them some more until they've come up with a fresh new perspective, and then taking time (a year?) to focus and refine them and to put them in a disciplined format, e.g., a book (but it could be something else) that when people look at it they say, "I never thought of that in quite that way before. Good insights. Well thought out."

To me, that's the difference between an A-list blogger and something more.

(I know, it's not a perfect definition.)

[DA]

Roger,

You're right. If you want to be known as an expert in a subject matter—the formal route you described is probably best (I can only imagine the discipline it takes to write a real book).

Question: As a published author and inventor—would you consider yourself a creativity guru?

[Joanna Pena-Bickley]

David, I could not agree more with your post. Often I have said the word guru or expert next to my name is offensive and takes away from what I really am which is a student of the medium and practitioner.

[Roger von Oech]

David: You asked me: "Question: As a published author and inventor—would you consider yourself a creativity guru?"

I've always hated that word — "guru" — especially when it's applied to business matters. When my first book, "A Whack on the Side of the Head," was first published by Warner Books in 1983, they wanted to put "From the Creativity Guru of Silicon Valley" in a banner over the title. I told them to take it off.

I've always considered myself a "student" of the creative process. I just happened to be one of a very small group of consultants in the late 1970s who were the first to promote and popularize "creativity in business." I did it through my seminars, conferences, and books and other products. There was a lot of resistance to this idea at the time. Now, there are "innovation experts" by the thousands!

[DA]

"I've always considered myself a "student" of the creative process."

Me too Roger. Whether I ever write a book or not, I consider myself a student of the creative process—and life in general. :-)

[Socially Adept]

David,

I agree with the post and the comments here regarding the "titles" being applied to many bloggers. Of course, we are all students, but it's important to remember that we are also all teachers. Experience and dedication speaks volumes to those curious about social media, creativity, etc.

Titles like "Expert, Guru and A-Lister" may not be the term of choice, but the masses will always create a distinction between those who "do" and those who are trying to "be". It's the way we're hard wired... someone has to lead the pack because if they don't, there is no one to follow.

I wouldn't recommend referring to yourself as "expert" or "guru," but when others do, it's a testament to your "foolishness." One last thing, if "knowledge is a curse" and "knowledge is power" and "with power comes great responsibility" is responsibility a curse? (hmmm... food for thought)

[DA]

"with power comes great responsibility"

Well, that's very true. Guess we all gotta be careful about how "foolish" we get. :-)

[David Koopmans]

David, I think it was the roman emperors who had a servant walking ahead of him at victory parades, to whisper in their ear "Remember Caesar that you are only human". We'll be your servants:)
Apart from that, I listened to the Sir Ken Robinson podcast and it was fantastic. Thanks for pointing me to it.

[Vince LaConte]

David,

I was thinking about this recently while reading Minsky's "The Emotion Machine" (which I assume you have read). The idea that to become an expert means acquiring more and more beliefs that are 'settled matters' and make the intelligent entity in question more and more rigid and brittle and less adaptive and curious. This is a particularly endemic problem in the field of professional education, as you rightly point out.

Minsky and a ton of other TED-quality "gurus" are speaking at the upcoming EG conference in LA (http://www.the-eg.com/). Are you going??

[Adam]

KNOWLEDGE + EXPERIENCE = SHIT

Have you forgotten that already?

[asit]

What a timely reminder (given the address of my blog). Having said that, IMHO there are people who are true experts on a subject matter whether it is via pure intellect or experience or both. Just because we love in a socially networked conversation economy nowadays, with everyone having something useful to say doesn't mean that suddenly the overall quality of thinking and content has gone up significantly. There will always be "experts" who will perhaps have a firmer grip on what is happening and where things are going. Whether we call them GURU or A-lister is a matter of detail. The fact remains, in my humble opinion, that expertise matters and it resides within a few people.

[DA]

Vince, I don't have plans to go—unless somebody want to pay my way. :-)

Adam, how could I forget.

Asit, yes I agree. It's always worth listening to those who break through the clutter. But expertise and more importantly, wisdom can come from anywhere.