How much do you really know or need to know

So I’m preparing for my spring happiness tour. OK, it’s really a day trip to the Chicago “Strictly Sail” expo on Navy Pier. It helps me through the winter doldrums. I was looking at seminars to take and found myself looking at a website for Captain Jack Klang who does these incredibly informative easy to follow seminars on different sailing topics. While checking out his website I came across some articles he has on various topics. So I checked out the article on “What and How of Cruising” basically what do you need to know before cruising around the ocean sailing and we’re not talking an ocean crossing passage but spending a couple months in Caribbean or something. What strikes me about this list is the length and remember it’s more of a technical list not a list for cooking, living aboard or visiting foreign countries. As a weekend sailor I can find the need to know well over 80% of this list which is a ton.

So why am I writing about this list? While I’d love to get more people interested in sailing the real reason is that had this list not existed for me to point out how many of you would understand what knowledge/equipment that was needed for this activity? Answer is very few. In fact every year people are hurt because of boat owners that don’t understand most or all of these items. So my question is how many of us understand all the different things we need to be able to do our jobs? Have you ever sat down and wrote out all the things you need to understand or have to do your job. How about what you need to know for your next job or to start a new business. Being in the position of potentially look outside of my current career I would want to know the “list” of where I should start to make sure I’m ready for my next career. I have friends that have varying positions in life . I know digital managers that control large work-flow systems, virtual assistants, CFOs, marketing people, PR people, call center employees and even those working in the life of fast food. I bet if they wrote down a list of everything they need to understand even at a basic level we’d all be surprised by the length of those list. Remember the list isn’t just knowledge but the tools needed to do these activities.

A surprising spin-off from these lists is an understanding of one’s own strengths and weaknesses. One I see is poor weather handling. I may never go sailing during a storm but it doesn’t mean that something may not happen to me one while on the water. Why not use your list to focus some effort on improving those areas you’re weaker in or making sure your resume accurately depicts what it is you exactly do. One simple exercise can bring to light a lot of information you may know but never quantified. Happy Listing!

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