A professor of mechanical engineering once had a problem with his vehicle, so he called an auto-mechanic whose name was John. When John did a check on the car, he told the professor to kick. "Yes I'm kicking" said the professor.
"Nooo" John screamed "kick it well, don't you know how to kick?"
"I'm damn right kicking it" said the professor —of mechanical engineering. And then the car worked.
What was baffling about the incident was that, the professor of engineering ought to know what was wrong with the car and how to fix it. He is a professor. He could teach his students what mechanical engineering is about, he could teach them why the parts and pieces of a vehicle are fit together in the manner they are, but he couldn't make a car work!!!
That brings us to one conclusion, there are different reasons why people learn.
People learn for information
People learn for impartation; and
People learn for implementation.
The man who learns for information, knows what a thing is about. But information is not enough. It is not enough to know what something is all about if you want to make good profit from it. It goes a step further. Someone who learns for impartation, knows why a thing is, or functions the way it does. He can teach it. He can impart the knowledge of what and why. But that also is not enough. What and why are simply not enough.
Now, One must learn for implementation. That is, How. That is what the professor lacked. We must learn for What, Why, and How. That is when learning is complete. Knowing What and Why cannot benefit much, if not How.
That is the difference between Knowledge, Understanding and Wisdom. Knowledge is knowing what to do, understand is knowing why you want to do it while wisdom is knowing how to do it. Wisdom makes the process of learning complete. Complete learning, makes you wise. That is why an ancient text said "wisdom is the principal thing, so in all you do, get wisdom." He didn't say knowledge or understanding is the principal thing, he said wisdom. However, that is not to say knowledge and understanding are unimportant. They are important.
Today in Nigeria, people are so full of knowledge, without understanding and Wisdom. There're millions of folks out there with countless degrees and certifications and are yet stuck on the journey of life. They are so constipated with knowledge that they don't have an idea of how to make use of it. Some even have understanding of what they know. They know "why", but they don't know how to implement. This is what has kept our economy stagnant. This is what has fueled the steady rise in unemployment. This is the dirt that has clogged up the minds of our leaders that they don't know how to implement policies and enforce laws.
The power of implementation, the power of wisdom, is a key factor in the progress of an individual's live, an organisation, or institution. It is the force that gets things done.
Dear friends, as individuals, as citizens, as devotees, as employers as employeees, as leaders, as followers, as men and women of vision and passion, it is expedient that we seek wisdom above all pursuits, that we dig for the element that will turn our lead to gold. It is paramount that we denounce this message of knowledge explosion, where people know a lot and know not how to implement. Therefore, dear friends it is vital that we embrace an era of wisdom explosion, where each person, knows how to implement what they know and achieve what they want. This way our lives will be better examples, the world would be a better place to live in—a place where wisdom rules.
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