Humans have a tendency to overestimate their own abilities. This is particularly evident in people with little expertise or experience in a particular subject or task, which can lead to an irrational view of the world.
Definition: The tendency to overestimate our own abilities, especially when you have little experience.
Insight: The more incompetent someone is, the less they realise it.
Insight: Being optimistic about our abilities has the benefit of increasing the likelihood that we will try something new.
Insight: Confidence has the potential for harmful self-delusion.
Principle: Be humble.
Principle: Find and build relationships with honest people, not afraid to tell you when you are wrong.
Insight: Those lacking in self-mastery (awareness and capacity) can be poor decision makers, but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realise it.
Insight: Poor logic and critical thinking is a result of not assessing our blind spots, considering what others have to say, or being too ignorant to know what is best.
Insight: We should base decisions on reality based assessments of ourselves.
Insight: Knowing and acknowledging our strengths and weaknesses is key to self-mastery.
Definition/example: When someone with poor understanding believes they possess more knowledge than the people that actually do.
Insight: Poor knowledge means poor ability to assess your own ability.
Insight: People with poor knowledge tend not to ask a lot of questions about a topic in an attempt to appear more knowledgable, however this has significant costs, including being a barrier to becoming more knowledgable.
Principle: Ask a lot of questions.
Insight: Poorly performing students often feel more successful/smarter than they are, until tested.
Insight: Poor performers lack the insight into their own limitations.
Insight: Ignorance breeds confidence.
Insight: Incompetence prevents you from being aware of your own incompetence. Ignorance makes us unconscious of our ignorance.
Reference: From the Roman poet Ovid: ignoti nulla cupido (there is no desire of the unknown). This is often our barrier to progress in wisdom.
Insight: We overestimate our own skills and intelligence, and underestimate others.
Key Insights & Principles
Self-mastery and learning
Incompetence prevents you from being aware of it.
Ignorance can lead to overconfidence.
Confidence can have the benefit of increasing the likelihood of trying new things, but can also lead to poor decision making.
A barrier to learning and growth is the fear of digging into something that we know little about.
Be humble.
Take the time to assess your strengths and weaknesses.
Ask lots of questions.
Leadership and management
Ignorance can breed poor leadership and decision making when leaders do not listen to others with experience, or know which decisions are sound, because of their ignorance.
Listen to others with more expertise.
Find those that have the knowledge and confidence to tell you when you are making mistakes.
