3 Ways to Not Be Dumb

I enjoy friends. I enjoyed dinner with a good friend last evening. We started talking about businesses and advertising. He’s a lover of good creativity as much, or more than me. We shared some recent business horror stories. In exasperation, my friend said, “how can anyone be so dumb!?”.

I wonder if anyone has ever said that about me? Because; (am I being too transparent?), I’ve done some pretty dumb things in my life! And I’ll probably do more.

The people I meet that tend to have a track-record of dumb things; have many things in common. Let me put their mistakes into the positive: Here’s the 3 things to do right now so that you won’t be described as dumb.

1. Reading. If you’re not reading, researching, or scanning great books, websites, blogs, and/or magazines; you’re admitting that the only knowledge you need, you already have. I may be wrong, but that seems to be a path to doing some dumb things.
2. Listening. When’s the last time you requested advice from someone? I’m amazed how many times I meet with someone and they never ask me anything. Instead they just talk. And never listen. I’m not saying that people should be listening just to me! But I would dare say we all should be listening to EVERYONE! Unless, again, you feel you know everything.
3. Teaching. When’s the last time you taught something? I have a heart of a teacher, and I find that in order to learn; I need to teach. Taking everything in (research), creating an outline, adding support material (examples), and paying attention to the way people learn… I end up learning even more. If you have to explain your actions (and motivation) you’ll end up not doing dumb things.

No one wants to be dumb. Me included. But often I fall into the trap of not reading, not listening, and not teaching. And that’s just plain dumb.