“Experience by itself teaches nothing.”This statement emphasizes the need to interpret and apply information against a theory or framework of concepts that is the basis for knowledge about a system. It is considered as a contrast to the old statement, “Experience is the best teacher” (Dr. Deming disagreed with that). To Dr. Deming, knowledge is best taught by a master who explains the overall system through which experience is judged; experience, without understanding the underlying system, is just raw data that can be misinterpreted against a flawed theory of reality. Deming’s view of experience is related to Shewhart’s concept, “Data has no meaning apart from its context”.

The citation provided by Wikipedia goes to this page on Deming.org, which has the following quote:

“If you don’t have a theory, you don’t have an experience. (…) Without theory there is no observation; there is no experience.”

This is such a broad topic and I still have thoughts running in my head, but the writing cannot catch the speed of my thoughts. Plus, I should organize them. Anyways, it was valuable sharing thoughts with you.

P.S. Your Albanian is great! )

Also, I think you’re right to point to events in recent years which have tested the integrity of the “client-professional” relationship. Perhaps the rise of the term “vendor” is symptomatic of the erosion of trust in business. There. I used the “T” word.

On your point #1) I like how you referenced self-awareness… seems like self-awareness is a required “meta-strength” if one is to do strengths-based developmental work… and true self-awareness doesn’t come from ignoring the weaknesses/critique points about ourselves.

This is not to say such critical self-awareness has to be overwhelmingly negative or demotivational. One of the things I find myself doing more and more, drawing from the field of Positive Psychology, is to uncover the “positive intent” embedded within a behavior and finding better ways to satisfy that intent. That and other nuances (such as “an overdeveloped strength can become a weakness in itself”) are some of the other things I’ve come to appreciate as I’ve continued to explore this topic in my talent development work. I’m a fan of some of Marcus Buckingham’s post-Gallup work, too.

Anyway, the saying you quoted made me smile: “Only 1 percent talent, 99 percent should be work.”

There’s a song refrain along those lines:

This is ten percent luck,
Twenty percent skill,
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will,
Five percent pleasure,
Fifty percent pain,
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name

While we would like a stockbrocker/money manager/mortgage broker, real estate agent, etc. to act in our best interest, the reality is that the past couple of years have shown us that many don’t, and the legal requirement for them to do so is not that clear, and the requirement that they act in our best interests isn’t always absolute.

Yes, it’s true… and I think the “elevated status” you’re referring to is exactly on point. One way to screen out the term “vendor” might be the following question: Do we expect this person to act on our behalf in ways that requires them to carefully consider what would be in our best interests? If the answer is yes, then they’re probably not just “vending” us something.

Thanks for this and many other insights, Cuz.