Last night I was finishing How We Decide which is  the most useful book I’ve read in a while. Toward the end, the author was offering summary ideas on how to leverage the insights of the book. He dropped a single phrase, “Be a student of errors” which stuck with me.

In my experience with Aikido and as a martial arts instructor, the concept of being a student of errors is a familiar one. It is summarized among Aikido practitioners through the Zen concept of ‘beginner’s mind’. The idea being to always perceive one’s self as a student, never a master.

In How We Decide, Jonah Lehrer points out the fallacy of certainty. He argues that when someone is certain of their perspectives they block out disconfirming evidence which often leads to foolish decisions. (A look across Wall St. and the self-proclaimed Masters of the Universe seems compelling substantiation of this point.)

Instead, Lehrer recommends people seek out contrarian input so as to listen to and participate in the argument that goes on in our heads. The brain, it seems, is wired for internal conflict. This is a part of how it comes to right decisions. To short-cut this process can be counter productive. This is at odds with a culture that demands rapid decision making and headline-worthy declarative statements.

Aikido as a martial system has a finite number of named techniques and applications. These are practiced again and again in different scenarios. (i.e. the same defensive technique is applied to varying types of attacks.) Only through constant repetition can a student internalize the form so that when a sudden situation arises they can be confident that the right response will be automatic.

I often admonish students who verbally explain to me what they should do. “So I should pull the arm forward and then…”

“Don’t tell me, show me. Aikido is learned with your body. There’s nothing to say.”

You can imagine how well this goes over.

Learning Aikido takes time which frustrates many people. There is no short cut. You can’t rush it. You have to take the long road and make many mistakes. You have to be willing to look foolish in front of peers as you fall clumsily or accidentally fumble a training sword dropping it with loud clatter.

In learning Aikido you must allow for enough time to make these mistakes to re-wire the brain to allow the body to react perfectly in the spur of the moment.

This is of course no great martial arts secret. Professional athletes go through the same process. So do designers, engineers and managers. It is in short experience that we pay for in senior executives. Experience commands higher salaries because experience (in theory anyhow) allows for efficiencies in right decision making.

Think about this the next time you pay a high premium hiring a whiz kid. They may be very bright and accomplished in discreet areas of their craft, but have they had the field experience to apply that knowledge under business duress? Battle tested matters as much as book smarts and likely more because the books are being rewritten continuously.

I have mentioned before my quarrel with self-proclaimed experts in fields so new there hasn’t been the time to develop expertise (i.e. social media). I don’t argue that some better-oriented people might be able to guide lesser-oriented people in becoming familiar with these new technologies. However, to assume someone with a few years tinkering in new technologies is an expert on the impact and execution of those technologies is naive. We should all be wary of masters of any universe.

As the Zen folks say, “A (self proclaimed) master has filled their cup so full of their own knowledge there is no room to learn any more.”

Lehrer finishes his book with a quote from Colin Powell, “First tell me what you know. Then tell me what you don’t know. Only then can you tell me what you think.”

Sound advice.