The Power of Saying “I Don’t Know”

I remember sitting in my London flat about 4–5 years ago, a place we had just relocated to. We had just opened a small company, CyborgNest, with an outside of the box idea — to enhance humans with new sensory abilities.

We had great passion, we bought a domain, uploaded a drawing of a potential future product and asked if there is anyone interested. Surprisingly, a few weeks later, we were already getting coverage from some of the main newspapers in the world. And boom! Suddenly we were the people who knew it all, the experts, so people started asking us:

• How will it feel?
• How fast will I feel a change?
• What kind of change is going to happen?
• and so on…

It was tempting to grab the opportunity and play the ‘We Know’ role. However, we didn’t hesitate and instead we answered:

“Mmm…We don’t know”

That was a moment that defined the company. Saying “we don’t know” felt right, it felt fair.

It is imprinted in us that not knowing, and more than that, admitting that we don’t know, is wrong. Is it? Isn’t it actually the place where we begin to explore? Isn’t it the place where creativity kicks in? Don’t we find that the places where people don’t know everything, are the places that drive us to learn and understand together? Isn’t this exploration the catalyst behind amazing changes such as the internet, deep sea exploration and space travel? Isn’t the unknown always going to be bigger than the known?

Since those first days, we have crossed many bridges as a company, and as a team. Today we know a lot more, and because of the knowledge that we have progressively gained we have earned the support of leading scientists and thought-leaders around the world. Yet, each time we step into new territories we will keep exploring, and we do this together with our growing community. We are proud to start the conversation by admitting what “we don’t know” as it reignites our desire to explore even further. By doing this we open new doors as a team, many that we didn’t know existed when we began, and it makes us stronger. Together we ask, learn, try, implement and ask again.

Imagine a world where kids are not asked to regurgitate knowledge that they have been taught, but instead they are asked what interests them? and what they would like to learn next? what don’t they yet know but would like to? In that world, as in this, we won’t always know how to answer their questions. We will not always have the knowledge to satisfy their queries and we must be brave enough to say: “I do not know”. And then the children would learn to say: “Ok, so I’ll find the answer myself.” And that day, we will have created a better world.

Discover more: cyborgnest.net | lesleyanndaly.com