TOW#531 — Buy knowledge
A few days ago I stumbled upon a very interesting article on the Internet titled Leonardo Da Vinci’s To Do List is much cooler than yours. According to the text, the following tasks/activities that he had written down date back to 1490:
• Calculate the measurement of Milan and suburbs;
• Discover the measurement of Corte Vecchio (the courtyard in the duke’s palace);
• Discover the measurement of the palace itself;
• Get a master of arithmetic to show you how to square a triangle;
• Get Messer Fazio (a professor of medicine and law in Pavia) to show you about proportion;
• Get the Brera Friar (at the monastery in Milan) to show you De Ponderibus (a medieval text on mechanics);
• Talk to Giannino, to explain to you how the tower of Ferrara is walled without loopholes (the text says that no one really knows what Da Vinci meant by this);
• Ask Benedetto Potinari (a Florentine merchant) by what means they go on ice in Flanders;
• Draw Milan;
• Ask Maestro Antonio how mortars are positioned on bastions by day or night;
• Examine the crossbow of Mastro Giannetto;
• Find a master of hydraulics and get him to tell you how to repair a lock, canal and mill the Lombardian way;
• Ask about the measurement of the sun promised me by Giovanni Francese.
(You can find the whole text on this link)
Looking at all these points from Da Vinci’s list, in addition to seeing that the tasks are serious and varied, one thing that struck me (as well as the author of the original text) is that for many things he consults and collaborates with other experts in his fields. Whenever we think of those ingenious and above-average minds who lived or are alive on planet Earth, we always think that they need to know everything. It’s the same as when they asked Einstein how many people there are in India, and were amazed that he didn’t know despite being one of the smartest people ever! He replied that he didn’t need to know, he could just open up Google (or the equivalent during his time) and find out.
Being wise and smart doesn’t mean that you need to know everything, even though you have all the information. Sometimes wisdom means knowing where and how to look for and find the information you need. Too often we want to know everything, to own everything, and we feel ‘stupid’ if we ask someone for advice, an opinion or knowledge. However, if even Da Vinci can seek the help of other experts in his fields, then of course we don’t have to pretend to be smarter than we are and try to do everything ourselves.
The things that make a genius, a genius are:
- Curiosity: an interest in various fields of work;
- Dedication: when they start doing something they don’t give up after the first hurdle. How much time did Da Vinci need to measure Milan!? And I’m not exactly sure that it was something of great significance for his life;
- Giving oneself above-average tasks to complete;
- Openness (buying knowledge from other experts) without being hindered by one’s ego;
- Multifariousness: interested in many things, outside of the main domain of work;
- Victim: sacrificing time, money, energy, health, all for the purpose of achieving the intended goals.
There are, of course, geniuses possess many other everyday characteristics. Nevertheless, one thing we can learn from Da Vinci is that if we don’t know something, it’s not a bad idea to ask someone who does.
Buy knowledge from others, and most importantly put that knowledge to good use!
Wishing you success with the changes to come,
Petar Lazarov
Member of the Team
MACEDONIA-EXPORT Consulting
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