Academic Creep — Don’t Assume They Know What You Know


Everyone is guilty of it. We are subconsciously unaware that everyone knows what everyone else knows. Confused? What? You do not know what I know about this? Ugh.

What do you really know? Academic creep is a plague that affects all of us. It typically happens in academia, the teacher or professor who has taught the same lesson plan over and over, 300 times in the last 10 years, and students are asking some of the same questions that he has already explained 299 times before today. Or your boss who did the same role you are doing today — yet twenty years ago — has the experience she learned when she was in the trenches, cannot figure out how you are unable to see the trainwreck in front of you.

How come these people don’t get it?

They are new students. New employees. This is the first time they have ever seen this presentation. The first time they heard of this concept, they are babes in the woods.

We do it with our children, to our spouses, to our co-workers. I am extra guilty of allowing academic creep into interactions with my children, and I only recognized it because it happened while it was fresh in my mind. Many years back I was having a “discussion” with my children that I recognized was almost identical to one that I had with some of my employees about two-hours prior. As I was talking to my children I realized that I was thinking “how come they can’t figure this out I just had this discussion…” blink. Liiiight bolb as Gru says. They had no idea what I was talking about. I took a breath and described to them what we were trying to do and how we were going to do it. Now when I talk to my children, or even my co-workers, I qualify the discussions with a statement such as “are you familiar with this” or “do you know what the heck I am even talking about?”

They don’t know advanced math (and depending on their age, barely know the alphabet and numbers)

They don’t know how to do Excel spreadsheets.

They may not even know how to make a coherent sentence that I even struggle with today myself.

But I was expecting them to. (*I didn’t know I was expecting them to know it see “unconscious incompetence”)

Even our spouses and partners will have experienced something with friends or family akin to this exercise, and when we run into one another we carry on the conversation without realizing they have no idea what each of us is talking about. We learn new skills or exercise some that have had for years, expect our partners to also have knowledge and skills that match ours. If we allow these leaps of knowledge with our loved ones, what are we doing with our co-workers?

We need to check ourselves and be in tune with the audience. If we see someone grimacing or twisting their face in confusion, take the time to register that and qualify the message you are sending. If you learn to recognize these knowledge gaps, you can identify and speak to them. Or even communicate them up front before you profess your knowledge. Take the time to be a teacher and discover where the questions exist and do your best to address them. It allows everyone to get in on the conversation and makes us all grow!

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