Dr S Ranganathan, ClinRise Derma Pvt., Ltd., Chennai

1. What is the reason for most people say they do not know about something which
they are supposed to know? We may wonder how the basic instinct and
inquisitiveness in knowing something which they aught to is lacking in many
people?
If we search for the real reason for the above, we will able to find that the people
who do not know about something only due to the fact that they need not want to
know mostly because they do not need such information/knowledge.
They need not know things because either they intentionally/consciously decline to
know or they genuinely not require/find any use for such knowledge.
The point is that the corporate bosses should not connect knowledge of people with
intelligence. Knowledge and intelligence need not go together.
Look at the behaviour of any big cats in the zoological garden. All the carnivores
including big cats that are bred or grown in captivity or in zoological garden cannot
survive in wild if they are released in wild. They may not able to hunt their prey or
during hunting, may get injured seriously. The big cats are indeed top predators.
How come their hunting instinct can go defunct and in effective when they were
grown or bread in captivity?
The reason being, they need not hunt in captivity as they are fed regularly with cut
meat. They do not know to hunt because they need not have to hunt for their
survival. They need not know because they need to know as they do not need.
If corporate wants its people to know, it is not blaming them for what they do not
know should be the approach, they should follow. Instead, the ‘need’ to know such
knowledge/skill must be created for them. Only when such need is there, people
will find need to know.
Even for the instinct to exist, strong need and necessity for the existence of such
instinct is essential. Otherwise even the instinct also may fade or may even
disappear. Only the need makes the existence of everything. The HR function
should not identify and define people as talented based on just the knowledge they
posses. Similarly HR also should not assume that people do not have such
knowledge are worthless. Perfection of knowledge, improvement of the existing
skills and enhanced performances, all can happen only when there is definite ‘need’.
Otherwise, people often live with same set of age old wisdom and never would
improve or update.
Many entrepreneurs usually feel proud of people those who are working in the same
organization for many years. Interestingly most of such senior people may not have
contemporary knowledge or skills. Ironically the owners of the corporate often call
such people as highly experienced. The definition of experience should not be on

2. arithmetic terms but on knowledge terms. How well versed they are with the
current trends and frontiers should be the criteria to call someone experienced.
When corporate never embrace new trends and practices and create necessity for
the people to upgrade and acquire knowledge, the people will not acquire new set of
skills and knowledge.
Remember if some say I do not know, he has not felt the need to know therefore
they do not know. If you want them to know certain skills and wisdom, please
create the need for such wisdom and develop them.
Dr S Ranganathan, ClinRise Derma Pvt., Ltd., Chennai