Career Advancement Newsletter

I am glad I did not know. 

    I am glad no one knew. 

        That was our advantage!

When I went to work for Truett Cathy to help him build the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain, I was the third staff employee.  None of us knew. 

None of us had built or operated or even worked in a restaurant chain.  No one had any experience in organizing a franchise system. 

Only one of us  … Truett Cathy … had ever worked in any restaurant! 

At the time we didn’t think about it, but …   

       that was our advantage! 

If we had started with experience from another restaurant chain, today Chick-fil-A probably would be like one of the other chicken chains or maybe one of the hamburger chains.  

Even more likely, we would have failed like … 

     so many other restaurant chains … 

         now long gone and forgotten. 

Because we did not know, we were free to invent and create a restaurant chain that was different from anything else in the industry. 

I am glad I did not know. 

      I am glad no one knew. 

My friend Anthony A. Malizia, Jr., MD said, 

     “The greatest enemy of learning is knowing.” 

Think about that.  

When we are confident that we know something, we close our minds to new or different ideas, suggestions, thoughts, and points of view … 

     that are not consistent with … 

          what we know! 

When we think we know … imagination, creativity, and questioning cease to penetrate the ruling confidence of experience that is in control of our minds.  

The adventures of exploration and discovery are choked off by the pride of knowing …

          “I have been there and done that.” 

That’s when we lose … 

     The Advantage of Not Knowing! 

Remember when your organization hired an outsider from another organization similar to yours? 

Remember how people sought that person’s knowledge asking, 

     “How did you do it?”  

Remember how everyone listened with a quite reverence for the wise tales of wonderful results?  Remember how the new person relished the attention?  Is it any wonder that he/she so freely shared that valuable knowledge? 

He/she believed, 

“I have been hired to help this organization … 

     become like the one I left.”  

As a result, didn’t your organization become more like the one he/she had left? 

I am glad that the top level of management, and for many years key staff members that were added at Chick-fil-A, had never worked for another restaurant chain. 

I am glad Chick-fil-A is not like any other restaurant chain. 

I am glad that we did not lose … 

     The Advantage of Not Knowing! 

I am glad I did not know! 

I am glad no one knew! 

--- Jimmy Collins, Career Advancement Newsletter

Like stories? My latest book Jimmy’s Stories is available on Biblio.com. 

Career advancement principles are in my book, Creative Followership®  also available on Biblio.com.   

#knowledge #experience #chickfila #truettcathy #leaders #followers