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    Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work
    Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work
    Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work
    Audiobook7 hours

    Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work

    Written by Liz Wiseman

    Narrated by Liz Wiseman

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Wall Street Journal Bestseller

    Is it possible to be at your best even when you are underqualified or doing something for the first time? Is it still possible, even after decades of experience, to recapture the enthusiasm, curiosity, and fearlessness of youth to take on new challenges? With the right mindset—with Rookie Smarts—you can.

    In a rapidly changing world, experience can be a curse. Careers stall, innovation stops, and strategies grow stale. Being new, naïve, and even clueless can be an asset. For today’s knowledge workers, constant learning is more valuable than mastery.

    In this essential guide, leadership expert Liz Wiseman explains how to reclaim and cultivate this curious, flexible, youthful mindset called Rookie Smarts. She argues that the most successful rookies are hunter-gatherers—alert and seeking, cautious but quick like firewalkers, and hungry and relentless like pioneers. Most importantly, she identifies a breed of leaders she refers to as “perpetual rookies.” Despite years of experience, they retain their rookie smarts, thinking and operating with the mindsets and practices of these high-performing rookies.

    Rookie Smarts addresses the questions every experienced professional faces: “Will my knowledge and skills become obsolete and irrelevant? Will a young, inexperienced newcomer upend my company or me? How can I keep up?” The answer is to stay fresh, keep learning, and know when to think like a rookie.

    Rookie Smarts isn’t just for professionals seeking personal renewal; it is an indispensible resource for all leaders who must ensure their workforces remains vital and competitive.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateOct 14, 2014
    ISBN9780062350862
    Author

    Liz Wiseman

    Liz Wiseman is a researcher and executive advisor who teaches leadership to executives around the world.  She is the author of New York Times bestseller Multipliers:  How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter, The Multiplier Effect:  Tapping the Genius Inside Our Schools, and Wall Street Journal bestseller Rookie Smarts:  Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work.  She is the CEO of the Wiseman Group, a leadership research and development firm headquartered in Silicon Valley, California.  Some of her recent clients include:  Apple, AT&T, Disney, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Nike, Salesforce, Tesla, and Twitter.  Liz has been listed on the Thinkers50 ranking and named one of the top 10 leadership thinkers in the world.    She has conducted significant research in the field of leadership and collective intelligence and writes for Harvard Business Review, Fortune, and a variety of other business and leadership journals.  A former executive at Oracle Corporation, she worked over the course of 17 years as the Vice President of Oracle University and as the global leader for Human Resource Development.  She is a frequent guest lecturer at BYU and Stanford University.  Liz holds a Bachelors degree in Business Management and a Masters of Organizational Behavior from Brigham Young University.

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    Reviews for Rookie Smarts

    4.5/5

    33 ratings2 reviews

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    • 3/5
      In terms of content it was a pretty good book. I would have given it a 4. The main issue that brought it down to a 3 was the "see footnote" comment that came up again and again and became distracting to focus on the content. I understand the importance of footnotes but when listening to an audio book it serves limited purpose to the listener.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      √ "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."

      --John Wooden

      ROOKIE SMARTS takes a hard look at the role of experience in the workplace. Since scientific knowledge is changing rapidly, the question is, "How long does one's expertise last?"

      The author's proposition is this: In a rapidly-changing world, retaining knowledge becomes less critical than GETTING the knowledge. Those who adapt and figure out ways to acquire knowledge will be miles ahead of those who only have outdated information--even if they do have a lot of experience. "When the world is changing quickly, experience can become a curse, trapping us in old ways of doing and knowing." The rookie, on the other hand can often adapt more quickly, and is not beholden to the "old ways" of doing things.

      ♦ The information in this book is supported by a lot of research done by the author. She was interested in finding out when a "rookie" could do a job better than a veteran. Research shows that a novice is more willing to ask for help from experts, rather than just do it the same old way. The author cites research suggesting that rookies reach out to experts five times more often than experienced veterans.

      ♦ In ROOKIE SMARTS, Ms Wiseman doesn't just want to convince us that rookies can do a good job--she wants to show us how we can gain some of the rookie wisdom. Sort of like staying a rookie for life. The author's new motto is "Quaerere Eruditionem," which is Latin for "Seek Learning."

      Part I of the book explores how and when a rookie excels. The author identifies 4 ways a rookie behaves. By understanding these 4 mindsets, we can emulate them, and benefit.

      The four modes that make a rookie effective are:
      ♦ BACKPACKER
      ♦ HUNTER-GATHERER
      ♦ FIREWALKER
      ♦ PIONEER.

      The rookie is less encumbered, so to speak, is alert, quick, and relentless. Rookies have nothing to lose--no image to maintain, no "status quo" to safeguard. The veteran, on the other hand, tends to be more protective, advisory, going at a "steady pace," and more comfort oriented.

      Part II shows us how WE can get some of that ability. It will not be easy: "Escaping this force requires deliberate thought and action." If one succeeds, however, a magical thing can happen. What if the veteran can keep his experience wisdom, but then adopt a rookie mindset? "Something magical happens when a skilled veteran successfully relearns his rookie smarts and is still able to retain his veteran acumen. he can then select the specific mentality and approach that is most effective for each task and situation."

      That is--it's the best of both worlds!

      ♦ It's true, the author admits, that some fields are highly dependent on solid experience. She quotes the famous study by Ericsson, which found that 10,000 hours are required to attain mastery in certain fields--especially music and athletics. She also points out that putting novices into certain jobs would be foolish. Think, "Aircraft Pilot." The recent airliner crash in San Francisco involved a pilot and a trainer with very little experience.

      ♦ Ms Wiseman provides a lot of supporting documentation. Appendix A describes the researchers that worked on the book, and their qualifications. Other appendices contain experiments that the reader can try to develop their own "rookie smarts," and become a learner for life. There are fun "Rookie Revival Strategies" like these: 1) Make an "I Don't Know" list, which identifies things you need to learn; 2) Announce your ignorance to let people know you're learning.

      √ All in all ROOKIE SMARTS is a fascinating, fun read. The thesis of this book is an intriguing one--and it is certain to cause a lot of debate (and maybe some angst) in many circles. My favorite line in the book: "The ark was built by amateurs, but professionals build the Titanic (Richard Needham.)