Imagination is more important than knowledge
Creativity, teamwork, style, leadership, motivation are qualities needed in many
walks of life. We think we know them when we see them. When it comes to making judgements
about who has got it, or who is better or worse than another person or team then
we are not so sure. How do you judge the style or the performance of one team or
individual in relation to others?
Some people will say “It’s all too subjective” and conclude that it can’t be done.
Others might argue that theatre critics or adjudicators at music competitions do
it all the time.
The reality is that each time a person say’s “I enjoyed that meal” or “wasn’t she
kind”, they are judging factors that appear, on more deliberate reflection to be
highly subjective. They are making judgements, weighing things up and deciding if
what they’ve experienced is better or worse than they expected. We all have scales
for such things and we use them all the time. Our scales are based on what we consider
‘normal’, on a set of expectations that we have learned or acquired. Knowledge and
experience leads us to state when something fails to match our expectations. We
know! Often we choose to act upon that knowledge. We complain, praise, share with
others and act on our judgement, both by modifying what we know and by making choices
of further action.
Why is it that we are quite capable of making a judgement about the standard of
service at a supermarket checkout yet get into difficulties when making judgements
about standards of performance in more formal contexts? A large part of the answer
lies in the misconception that only the tangibles can be measured objectively. Weighing,
counting and numbers are appropriate for some purposes but often provide a spurious
degree of objectivity and so can tests, examinations, criteria and checklists.
How do you measure style? The answer is you don’t! What you can do is to find someone
who has relevant knowledge and experience and ask them to make an expert judgement.
Better still, get a group of people who have the knowledge and experience to work
together and agree the qualities and standards that required and then ensure that
each expert judgement matches those expectations.
Sound simple? It isn’t, but thirty years of practical experience, research and development
means that we know both how to do it and how to ensure that it works.
Albert Einstein once said “Imagination is more important than knowledge”. We would
add that being able to recognise, release and reward imagination is more important
than measuring and examining.
For more details of the Affirmative Assessment System ™
contact the team at The Talent Centre.