The curse of knowledge
As a kid, one of my favorite things to do was to climb trees and pick fruit. My job was to climb the trees and tell the rest of my friends where the fruits were so they could harvest them as well. I remembered scaling a “massive” 50ft tree (to me at the time), and telling my friends “Heyyyyy! look for the trees with red bark!”. They looked for several minutes and told me “ I don’t see any trees with red bark! Nothing but brown bark”. I got incredibly frustrated and wondered if they were blind. All I could see from up there were red barks. I finally came down with visible anger, which quickly subsided when I saw that they couldn’t see what I saw. From down here, there wasn’t any red bark to be seen at all.
That moment taught me what the curse of knowledge was, or simply failing to realize that people don’t know what you know.
How we all fall for this trap
I first got a formal introduction to this concept from an episode titled “Curse of Knowledge meets Valley of Death”, Cautionary Tales by Tim Harford. It tells a story of how a general led 700 of his men to charge towards cannons, leading to their impending doom. Surely, anyone with a brain wouldn’t charge cannon fire. How did this happen? A simple miscommunication error. What the general saw on top of the hilltop and the ambiguous directions he gave to his men confused them and led to the disastrous ending.
Had he been more explicit with his orders or if there were a better method of communication, this would’ve all been avoided. For us, the consequences aren’t as harsh, but we still fall for this trap often. Think about the classic example of asking someone to buy you something from the grocery store. You ask them for a certain brand and expect it to be the same one you have. But since you didn’t give any specifics that would guarantee that you’ll get the same one (function, color, usage, etc.), you get upset when they didn’t get you the specific item you asked for. Just because we know what we want, doesn’t mean the other person knows what we want. I learned this lesson when asking my parents to get me Colgate toothpaste, particularly the smooth white paste. Since mine came in a red box, I told them it’s in a Colgate red box. What I got was a Colgate mint gel — my least favorite. From that day, I ask them to facetime me before the purchase to ensure 100% satisfaction.
There’s a saying that reads “when we Assume, it makes an Ass out of ‘U’ and ‘ME’”. I find that whenever I fail to communicate the most important details, it always comes back to bite me. If I assume that the other person could do it, I’m leaving it up to chance. It’s not that they’re not competent, it’s because my expectations of how I want it to be done weren’t communicated to that person. When the solution isn’t lined up to our expectations, it’s a recipe for disappointment.
A few suggestions
I’ve found a few ways to combat this problem: understood intention and detailed specifications.
There’s a concept in the military, commander’s intent, used when communication isn’t readily available or conditions make it tough to talk to one another. Commander’s intent is actually the pre-work of the process. Before everyone head’s out, there is a meeting which explains what the primary objective is. Commander’s intent is the contingencies of what happens if you’re lost, separated, or communication isn’t available. If any of these conditions occur, you will have the master plan in mind and won’t need to talk to your commander because you know what the intent is.
We can use the commander’s intent in non-military contexts. For example, if your manager’s intent is to sell beds, that will be your primary goal. So let’s say that a customer wants free pillows if they get the bed. If your manager isn’t available for you to talk to, you can go ahead and make that decision knowing that selling beds is the primary objective. Since pillows are a fraction of the profit you’ll be making from the bed, you’ll end up hitting the sales goal. But at the core of it all, in any contingencies, we want to sell beds.
It’s crucial that the manager or whoever is in a leadership role explain the importance of why you do something. If your team messes up, it’s your fault for not giving the right resources or providing clear and concise directions. Without the commander’s intent, your team will be lost and take no action or will take unnecessary action that leads to catastrophic effects.
This leads us into detailed specifications; clear and concise directions so people can understand what you’re thinking and what you want. If you’ve ever worked in a procurement department, a lot of time is spent on the specifications. You make sure it’s exactly what you want or else you end up losing money and time. You must also make sure that the other party understands what you’re asking of them. If the other party doesn’t understand the lingo you’re using then they might interpret it as something else. It would be like a physical therapist telling you to align your foot in a dorsiflexion position for gastrocnemius contraction. It’s just easier to say “can you point your toes to the sky? You feel that right there in your calf muscle?” Then actually point to it and show them what it’s supposed to feel like?
I find the more information and instructions needed, the easier it is for someone to misunderstand. That’s where the commander’s intent and specifications play in hand and hand. What’s the most important goal and how can I deliver it in an easy way to understand? The right balance makes all the difference.
Now if I were to go back a few decades ago, I would simply say “The trees look red up here, but what’s it like down there? Oh… only brown down there? My fault! I’ll go down and mark all of them, then we can harvest all of the fruits.”
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