How would you assess yourself: knowledgeable or wise?
On the other hand, what do people say about you, that you are knowledgeable or wise?
Knowledge can be acquired from multiple sources: school, college, reading, watching, etc. But how does one gain wisdom?
Do the students who score the highest marks (which I assume makes them knowledgeable) turn out to be the wisest in life? Not necessarily.
Wisdom and knowledge are both critical. However, there’s a difference between the two that you need to know to be successful.
While knowledge is a collection of facts and information, wisdom is the application of that knowledge. Wisdom may come from experience or education, but it can’t be taught in the same way as knowledge because it requires you to apply your interpretation to the data you have collected.
Wisdom isn’t static; it grows with time as we learn from our mistakes and make changes based on our experiences. Knowledge tends to stay more static because once something has been learned, it stays in our brain for good—even if we choose not to use it again or forget its existence entirely.
Wisdom is the combination of knowledge, experience, and the ability to use both to make good decisions. It’s not just about knowing things; it’s about how you put that knowledge into action.
You can have tons of education and still be clueless about real-life situations. That’s why so many people get degrees and then can’t find jobs after graduation: they don’t know how to apply their knowledge in concrete situations or even recognize when they should use it!
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, and wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Everybody needs knowledge, but not everyone has wisdom. Knowledge can be applied to many situations, while wisdom cannot. Being wise means seeing things clearly and making the right decision in any given situation—even if you don’t make all the right decisions every time!
Being knowledgeable is just one step towards being wise; gaining true wisdom requires more than just information. That’s why being knowledgeable isn’t enough for us at Vineet Sethi Consulting; we want everyone who undergoes training on any subject to leave with more than just knowledge; we want them all to be filled with great wisdom too!
At Vineet Sethi Consulting, we believe that Business and People are two sides of the same coin. Our approach to transforming organizations, teams, and individuals is based on Standard Customization, stemming from the philosophy that no one size fits all.
Contact us at hello@vineetsethi.com or on our social media channels for more information.