FranklinCovey Consultant Blogs | James Cathcart | Fads And Trends

To Know and Not to Do is Not to Know

Sunday, June 28th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 11 Comments

The title of this entry probably sounds like something the great Jedi Master Yoda might say, but it’s actually a quote from Stephen R. Covey. A couple of times over the last week, I’ve heard people say that they tried the FranklinCovey methodologies for time management in the past, but they didn’t work for them. When I asked why, they said something like, “well, I would write stuff down, but then forget to look at it, so…what’s the point?” I explained to one of them, in a lighthearted way, that this breakdown wasn’t so much a problem with the system, but with the user!

So often, we take great pains to accumulate vast amounts of practical knowledge, but never really apply it. We take pride in the fact that we “read the book” or “attended the seminar”, and that’s the end of it. The question I posed to one individual, when he told me that he had “gone through The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People some years ago” was, “yes, but did the 7 Habits go through you?”

I sometimes wonder if we need to stop frantically searching for fulfillment in the latest fads and trends in the marketplace, and start rolling up our sleeves and getting down to the hard work of applying some of the simple truths we’ve already learned. I firmly believe that people should always have a thirst for learning, but also recognize that to learn and not to apply, is wasted effort.

Add Comment

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,