In the summer of 1919, Henry Ford, the automobile tycoon, was placed on the witness stand ready to be questioned by a defense attorney for the Chicago Tribune. It was an odd case to be in court, even by today’s standards. Ford was suing the Chicago Tribune for slander. Specifically, for being called an ignorant anarchist. 

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The defense set out to prove that Henry Ford was ignorant by asking him questions about American History, questions that Henry Ford was rarely able to answer. The court transcripts become popular reading at the time. People love it when the rich and powerful stumble and fall.

What’s weird is that, in general, the Chicago Tribune was probably right. Henry Ford knew fewer basic facts than the average American. But basic knowledge isn’t what made him creative or successful. 

Ford’s ability to innovate wasn’t born out of general knowledge that you could pick up in high school. It came from working with machines his entire adult life. 

At age 15, he was known for his skills repairing watches. He loved taking watches apart, learning how they worked, and then putting them back together again. In this 30’s, Ford took a job as an engineer for Thomas Edison. With hard work, he became the go-to guy to fix any engine. At this point in his life, he had a deeper understanding of how engines worked than any person alive. He knew engines. That’s all that mattered.

Knowledge can be broken down into 2 categories: 

General knowledge, like math and science, and domain-specific knowledge. As the name implies, domain-specific knowledge is highly specialized knowledge. As a comedy trainer, I’ve spent countless hours learning how different jokes are structured, I’ve studied all the different scientific theories of humor, and I’ve spent countless hours writing my own comedic material in various genres.

Domain-Specific Knowledge forms the building blocks of a creative idea. Without it, you won’t know enough about your industry to understand what problems need to be solved; You won’t understand the pros and cons of different ways of solving problems; You wouldn’t know the needs of the customers you served. 

Your creativity isn’t determined by how many facts you know or what you can score on an IQ test. Your creativity is determined by how much knowledge you have about your industry and your willingness to think creatively with that knowledge. You need both. You need the building blocks as a raw material and you need the creative skills to work with that raw material. 

As you create today, think about what knowledge would be useful to you. How creative you are this week might just be determined by how you use the weekend. The weekend is more than enough time to acquire some useful knowledge or a practical skill. If you want to build a creative idea, you need building materials. You need ideas. Carve out a small part of your weekend to collect some new materials. You might read it in a book, watch it in a documentary, or learn it from a conversation with a friend. You can also go back through old episodes and take some notes. Find fun ways to collect ideas. 

And by the way… Henry Ford ended up winning the slander lawsuit and was awarded a grand total of 6 cents, which, if you converted to today’s money… still sucks. 

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Here are today’s Kaizen Questions:

• What are some fun ways that you have learned valuable knowledge or skills in your industry?
• Do you have different strategies for collecting depth or knowledge than you do for breadth of knowledge? Do you use one strategy to go deep into your industry an another way to get a wide variety of knowledge from other fields?

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