E = 1/K
Some say this is the formula that expresses the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Others suggest it represents Einstein’s second attempt at an equation to describe ‘E’.
Either way, in this case an understanding of neither astrophysics nor psychology is a prerequisite to comprehending its essence:
Where ‘E’ is Ego, and ‘K’ is Knowledge, Ego is inversely proportionate to Knowledge
Otherwise put, the greater the Knowledge, the lesser the Ego—and vice versa.
Perhaps it’s because the more we know, the greater our awareness of what we don’t know? As Socrates told us some two-and-a-half millennia ago,
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
Think about that. Is it a paradox? Was Socrates messing with us? Or just forcing us to think?
Maybe both.
I hope the pages that follow will provoke a lot of thinking. The critical first step along the path to the greater awareness and perspective necessary to resolve, or at least mitigate, the genuine crisis of leadership afflicting institutions and businesses in the US and globally is simply that–thinking. And we’ll be citing the expressed thoughts of some of history’s most notable thinkers. Spoiler alert: along the way, we will also reveal the Secret to the sort of enlightened leadership we think essential to dealing with this crisis.
“What crisis?”, you may ask. We’ll describe this more fully in Chapter 1, but here’s the short answer: the crisis that has produced chronically low levels of workforce engagement–not for just years, but decades–subverting organizational and institutional performance across a wide majority and variety of endeavors.
As we think about this and a panoply of related subjects, we must be willing to affirmatively eschew blind acceptance of what may be considered well-established doctrine, and stay ever mindful of Einstein’s oft-cited admonition:
“The important thing is not to stop questioning”.
Amen, Albert.
For our first act of heresy, we’ll disabuse ourselves of any lingering reverence for the ‘status quo’, the ‘Conventional Wisdom’, and (ugh), ‘Best Practices’.
John Maynard Keynes put it this way:
“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas
as in escaping from old ones.”
Thus we embark, tabula rasa.
Prologue
Kenneth Miller 2023