With confident humility, you remain confident in your ability to learn while remaining aware that your current knowledge may be incomplete. Humility without confidence often leads to anxiety and risk-aversion. We should absolutely feel confident about concepts we’ve learned, knowledge we’ve attained, and skills that we’ve mastered. But that sense of mastery should be tempered with a humble recognition that there might be new ideas or better approaches that we might be missing.
… when you want feedback on a performance asking, “What can I do differently next time?” (An advice based question) works better than “How did I do?”
… We don’t simply need lifelong learners. We need lifelong unlearners and relearners.
John Spencer, “Why Confident Humility is a Critical Skill in a Generative Age“
What can I do differently? What if I had chosen another option when making a decision in a painting, where it have led? How do I remember the choices later on? What if whenever I make a choice I write a quick note in a sketchbook of what I chose and what I didn’t? I wouldn’t end up with a recipe book, more a dictionary of ingredients and possibilities.
