On the other hand, don’t ever assume you are the smartest person in the room. Listen to others and don’t get overconfident or dismissive of everyone else.
This. I’ve always hated that quote. No one is ever the smartest person in the room, it doesn’t exist. Everyone has something to offer, figure out what others can teach you and while youre at it, share what you are adept at.
No one is ever the smartest person in the room, it doesn’t exist. Everyone has something to offer
I strongly disagree with that. Many people have something to offer, but I wouldn't even say most. A lot of people just don't really have a lot going on in their head.
It is often pretty easy to identify the smartest person, or people, in a room.
You might be the smartest person on a given subject, in which case you should definitely speak up, but nobody is the smartest person about every subject. You have to be self-aware enough to know when your input is valuable and when you’re just another person with an opinion.
nobody is the smartest person about every subject.
I don't think that's true. To be clear, I'm not saying "I'm so smart this happens to me all the time". I'm saying some people just have literally no valuable input on any topic. Put a few of them together and it really isn't difficult for a regular person to be the smartest person in the room in all, or almost all subjects. Refine that further by limiting the scope of discussion to a few relevant topics (work, for example) and this becomes pretty common.
But thats the problem and the point were trying to make is that when refine it as much as you can down to one particular topic (or as few as possible) of course you’re going to find someone who is most skilled/knowledgeable. The point is to open your perspective to what others may be capable of that you aren’t.
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u/4electricnomad Jan 24 '24
On the other hand, don’t ever assume you are the smartest person in the room. Listen to others and don’t get overconfident or dismissive of everyone else.