Be a humble inquisitor

19 June 2009

The other night I was driving along speaking to a film making friend of mine and we stumbled upon the aptly named term The Humble Inquisitor. Sounds like a character out of some spoof Monty Python-esq type comedy, and it could well be, but what I was pointing across at the time, was how to win friends and learn from people who are more knowledgeable than yourself.

In life, no one knows everything, and when you think you’ve reached a point in your life, career, relationship where you know it all, then that is the time you need most to go and seek out someone who might know more.

Why? No matter how good you are at something, there is always someone better. Tiger Woods may well be the best golfer in the world RIGHT NOW, but in 10 years time, someone younger and stronger will come along who will be better. This is not to say that Tiger Woods isn’t great, and if it were possible to bend the laws of physics so that he may compete with every challenger who ever came along, he may well prove to be the all time greatest, but that’s never going to happen.

Time travel isn’t yet a possibility to make that truth known, and in your life, you’ll never be the best. Wow, that’s a harsh statement, but think about it, this is the best situation to be in. Knowing that you are never at the top of the tree, means you’ll always strive to achieve more.

Coming back to the point, the humble inquisitor, this is how I learnt many of the things I’ve learnt today in order to push and propel myself further. Drop the pride and ego, and find people who know more than you in something you want to excel in, and humbly ask questions in order to gain their confidence, trust and friendship.

By being this character, not quite the pants man superhero from The Apprentice, but more akin to Albert Einstein, in the way that he had always humbly inquired through his own mind and from his peers, you will learn to accept other people and their perspective. This will give you greater learnings than holding on to your pride, ultimately, leading to even greater successes.