I went in to see my friendly neighbourhood pond expert today to find out how I was meant to keeping the new pump and filter working optimally and to find out why the pond seemed to be cloudier than I’d expected after good early progress.  He went through it all and explained exactly how it all worked to me and even though I have gone from ignoramus to competent over the last month or so, there was still lots I didn’t know.  Of course, you don’t know what you don’t know!  I have often observed that sometimes just a single fact can completely change what you can do or how well you work.  Today was just such a day.  Hopefully the pond will show the difference. 

This little grid is a great way of understanding this process (click on the model for more information.)

You can’t blame someone for not knowing something, but it is important to have the sort of mind that is constantly hungry for more information, so that you can be constantly be upping your game.  Stephen Covey refers to this in is 7 Habits as ‘Sharpening the Saw’.  The other thing is one often doesn’t know what another person knows.  Often this can lead to profound miscommunication, so a good tip is take the time to share what you know and think at the beginning of important sessions.