What is more important, knowledge or experience?

A lot is said about what is more critical, knowledge or experience. The simple answer is both are equally important, and we must add leadership to the mix.

To deliver value in any format, such as a project, a task, a decision, or even a message, we must exercise the three values together Knowledge, experience, and leadership. Let me explain.

Experience:

Experience is the competencies, skills, and abilities to deliver a particular task. It is perhaps common Knowledge that no experience is recorded without doing the thing ourselves. This is how we build experience, and practice makes us just batter.

Knowledge:

Knowledge is the data, information, and insights we accumulate through trusted sources. Knowledge covers the thought process we follow to arrive at the truth. Knowledge is scientific and should be based on proven facts and theories.

Leadership:

Leadership is the ability or capability of one person to impact others’ choices and decisions. A good leader leads their followers to good conclusions. Therefore, leadership qualities are subjective, but the phenomena are measured by the impacts one person exercises on others.

The magic happens when we possess all three qualities together. Our experience, Knowledge, and leadership complement each other and are essential for our success. Not enough experience will lead us to face challenges that we never could imagine when we try things. Not enough Knowledge may lead us to try concepts that do not work or are less efficient, as they have been tried before and proven not to work. Lack of leadership will obstruct us from convincing others and getting the support we require.

So, balance experience, Knowledge, and leadership as without the three together, the risk of failure will be just high and have a bit of good luck.