Expired Knowledge

There are books out there which explain, for example, the rise and fall of companies. While reading such books, it is important to be “updated”. My father tells me, take a walk into some bookstores today and we can still see books like “The Rise of Nokia”, “What Made Nokia, Nokia” etc… No doubt that Nokia used to be a successful company, but as of now, common sense has the answer.

So what if one fully understands Nokia? The knowledge that he owns is not applicable in today’s world as it is outdated. Apple has outsmarted Nokia, and Nokia’s strategy of making it a success in the past may not work today. In short, knowledge has an expiry date, because some of it is no longer relevant in the world today.

How do I plan to address this problem of learning outdated things? (Not that I’m reading any books on Nokia) I think that analyzing is rather important. Instead of just reading the book, try to read beyond the lines if possible, or rather, think more in depth and really analyze. Paying much attention to the decision making made by the individual and ask further- What were the social context then? What was the problem that they really faced? What was the conventional solution then? These are some questions worth pondering over.

What is more important, is knowing how the apply the knowledge learnt. That’s why, I prefer to choose books which are rather general in nature and do not zoom in specifically on any organization etc. Such books tend to have more potential for application. If we can learn how to apply the knowledge, then the knowledge will never be outdated. The fact that we can relate what we have learnt to different situations and scenarios, means that we have fully understood it and not just “copy and paste”.

I’m trying to achieve till that level of proficiency.