Yesterday, when my electric wiring had a problem, did I ask the electrician about his knowledge? Of course not! All that I was interested in was his ability to fix the problem.
So, how does knowledge differ from ability? Knowledge is an immobile asset, while ability is both poetry and prose in motion. Ability makes things happen, because it converts ideas, irreversibly, into value for you and me.
The first ingredient in ability is your understanding (of something), often confused for knowledge. The difference between understanding and knowledge is simple. If you can instinctively describe something in your own words, even if it disagrees with others’ views, you have an understanding. But if you need a book to explain it, then you have knowledge.
The next ingredient is your urge to use your understanding to solve a problem. Now, a problem is not necessarily something that irritates or hurts you, somebody, or some part of the world. It could be merely an issue that arouses your curiosity, and you ask, ‘Why not do something about it?’
The third ingredient is an interest to convert that provocation into a series of steps to solve that problem. Therefore, you must dare to experiment, laugh at failure, and be persistent with attempts till you find your best solution. Sometimes, luck favours you with opportunity and authority to test or use your solution. When nothing happens, as is often the case, you don’t give up. Remember the tale of Edison and his 2,000 experiments to make the electric bulb work?Wise employers will go beyond knowledge, and will be concerned only about what their people can do. Therefore, employees need to learn how to convert their knowledge into ability. And educational institutions must help their students to become not only informed but also able.
Albert Einstein couldn’t have put it better, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’. And imagination cannot work without the urge to transform what you understand into what you can do with your understanding.
