The Danger of “Expert” Half-Truth Wisdom
Recently I came across an article with an attention-grabbing title: “‘Do What You Love’ is Horrible Advice.” Of course I had to click on the article and see what was so horrible about the recommendation to follow your passions. What I found is similar to what I seem to see quite frequently in many career and leadership articles. The contents of the article are what I have come to call Half-Truth Wisdom.
Contrary to this articles claim, “do what you love” is not horrible advice. It is just incomplete. It is just as incomplete as the author’s assertion that skill mastery is what leads to passion. I have worked with thousands of individuals who have skill mastery in areas where they have ZERO passion. On the flip side, I have worked with thousands of individuals who have developed a passion for something through the process of gaining skill mastery.
The leadership takeaway or reminder here for me is that we are surrounded by Half-Truth Wisdom and if we are not careful we can make decisions, give advice, influence people and organizations in ways that will not get them or us where we want to go. Our job as leaders is to develop the discernment muscle and be willing to dig a little deeper when presented with advice that sounds clever so that we make sure we get (to borrow a line from Paul Harvey) “the rest of the story.”
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