Skip to main content

Earned vs Learned Knowledge

We gain knowledge in different ways. We acquire it by observing things or observing how others think, read, interpret, act or do something.

We also get it by thinking, understanding and creating something ourselves. 

The difference between the former and the latter is that the former is learned knowledge, and the latter is earned knowledge.

What is the difference?

Learned knowledge gives you tricks and tips. You get the benefit of absorbing others' summarised understanding of something. In return, you don't have to experience first hand. It is referenced absorbtion.

Earned knowledge, on the other hand, is hard-earned through experiences. There is a history of making many mistakes before you gain experience.

Acquisition of such knowledge helps create absorbed understanding directly from our experience. It's an original and personal version.

Earned knowledge helps articulate pathways, approaches, thinking patterns and actions that everyone, including us, can benefit from. 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Checks and balances!

Defining a good purpose, setting a target goal and getting people working on them is usually not enough! There are too many aspects involved in getting the results we want. For example, there is an aspect of painting the big picture, working on motivation management, productivity tracking, building experimentation labs, and erecting resilient systems that systematize the workflows. Just putting bodies to work and defining milestones rarely achieves the right results. The other aspects that help march towards the milestones in an orderly manner, they are equally important. At the very least, they make objectives widely understandable and results more attainable. The job of a thought leader is to enable progress and enable recovery. Therefore, it is never enough to have just ideas. Those with ideas also have the responsibility to assemble the work environment in such a way as to create situations containing the energy disperses. Energy dispersal from lack of clarity, loss of motivation, ...

Choking the communication channel.

There are instances where everything looks in order. Structures are rightly in place. Right roles are defined. Responsibilities are distributed. Bi-directional open communication is expected to take place. And with that, collective work is expected to turn out productive. Yet, when the action begins, everything breaks apart. Productivity dwindles, cooperation is missing, and ad-hoc interactions are common-place That creates chaos. No one appears in charge even though there is someone responsible. It clearly is a sign of broken communication channels. A well-orchestrated workplace focuses on methods to communicate grounds-up and top-down. It encourages patient listening, internalizing and responding rather than reacting. All effective open communication channels are a result of making such communication possible. Often, the structures are set such that you centralize communication of every bit of your activity to someone in the hierarchy. Over time it turns into a permission-based inter...

Top up.

An effort of any kind will stop without a top-up mechanism. The cooking range doesn't work without gas. When petrol runs out, vehicles don't work. In the absence of solar panels, green energy is just a dream. Such issues apply to us humans too. Our ability to work hampers seriously if we don't have an energy replenishment plan. We think we enjoy the most when we do work involving our passions. We think tirelessly doing the same activity will keep our enthusiasm. Like writer's block, there comes a day when our ideas don't work. Monotony dries up the fun. What used to be the reason to be at work feels like the most dreaded place. When we encounter such a situation, it's time to check if our energy tank is emptying out fast enough that we need to land to refuel. Top up is a vital periodic part that recharges us. Different activities, places or people might refuel us with new energy and ideas. But first, be open to knowing you will run out of fuel. Sooner or later, ...