Why Knowledge Alone Will Get You Nowhere

Here’s the sad tale of a trivia master I knew back in college.

His name was Noah Lott Doolittle. 

When we played the game Trivial Pursuit, Noah always won. 

What is the scientific name for a rabbit’s tail? Noah knew. (Scut)

Before Hollywood, which New Jersey town was a center for the motion picture industry? Noah knew. (Fort Lee)

How many time zones are there in Russia? Noah knew. (11)

Here’s the thing about Noah: He was a trivia game champ, but a game-of-business chump. 

He couldn’t hold a job. He talked about starting a business, but he never got it off the ground. He planned to write a book about his favorite TV show (of course, Jeopardy!), but he never got around to it. 

Noah got nowhere. And now he’s nowhere to be found. 

I thought about Noah the other day while reading the introduction to Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. 

Carnegie encourages us to read the first three chapters and then…

…Do something with what we learn. 

He closes the introduction with a call to ACTION: 

“‘…the great aim of education,’ said Herbert Spencer, ‘is not knowledge but action.’ And this is an action book.” 

Seems obvious doesn’t it? Fill your head with knowledge and then act. 

But I know so many business people who buy books, watch videos, consume courses…

…and never act, never implement, never get to work.

Know a lot, do little.  

Knowledge without action is worthless trivia.

You may win the board game. But you’ll lose the game of business. 

Speaking of How to Win Friends and Influence People, that’s the August selection for the Mastermind Book Club. 

Ted Prodromou and I started the Club as a place for like-minded people to gather and share business-building insights. 

Every month, Ted and I choose a book for club members to discuss. The club is free to join. Click here to act. 

You can read the book – but only IF YOU WANT TO. 

In the MBC community, members will share short videos, blog posts, and other conversation-starters. 

You can comment and participate in any conversation you choose…

…or you can start your post/conversation.

And on the fourth Thursday each month, we gather as a group live to discuss the book and compare notes on how we’re implementing. 

The idea: 

Share insights drawn from the book.

Discuss how to apply those insights to improve your business.

Celebrate success as you or other members implement. 

The key word above: IMPLEMENT. 

Join us in the Club, and then take action.