Have Adab with Knowledge

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Life and its many colours [part 2]. In my networks there is one segment who never made it through university, and are now threading their own paths. I have no problems with this at all.

But I have a strong objection against turning back and ridiculing the institution. Juxtapositions are made that these sort of institutions are very theoretical and do not produce people who shape the world. I beg to differ on two counts, and challenge anyone who has these sort of views to a debate with me (did I mention I used to be a primary school debating champion? oh yes… the days where I Iearnt the art of persuasion in my short shorts…):

1. Theories at university level are extremely sound, and become theories after passing through peer reviews in academic journals. These theories are not your Sunday afternoon “I think…” moments while sipping coffee. They are based on a multitude of facts and case studies. Also, graduates from such institutions have hands on experiential experience as well as set from the faculty. These programs literally inject these individuals into established places where the meat is, for them to filter and learn the application of these theories. So the whole jublaa (I believe I just coined a new word… Oxford, please register it) of theories but no practicality of these institutions does not have a strong base that supports contention. Theories can be challenged, but please, provide some evidence before nonchalantly brushing aside a scholarship of work behind such frameworks. There is no Adab (code of courtesy and decorum) in that at all.
2. It’s very cool to fathom the movers and shakers as being street smarts, and those who’ve graduated from university as well, the “unrealistic”. You’d hear these sort of nuances coming from those who’ve framed themselves cool of course… the “street smarts”. All this is a waste of time. People who change the world come from all walks of life.

On a another note, and specifically towards Marketing, I’ve spent a good deal of time sharing what I’ve learnt. Some accept it well while others question. I again have no problems with the latter, but the adab must be there. Please respect the knowledge, not my knowledge, but the knowledge itself. Our discovery of knowledge grows when ideas are questioned seriously and not finger pointed at just for the sake of it. My asatizah readers might be able to relate to this one: it is a trivial bug in the ways at which some religious doctrines are discussed and debated by persons without the qualification to do so. I feel the same with Marketing, and suspect it’s stretched across fields of knowledge.

If you do want to reject, please share the evidence as well. Of course, the same is true for me, I should share the facts and data to support my claims. But we share according to standards. Not doing so is tantamount to error on the part of the person with the knowledge. For example, if a professor in geography was asked by a kindergarten student what is global warming, the last thing you’d hear is the proff going into stratosphere and precipation mean values. No, he would explain it by what the child knows is his world: The world gets hotter by man made stuff (for example). And that’s it. So similarly even if you’re in business, I will look at your level, and answer according to what you understand. So for example, if you asked me what’s wrong with your marketing, I won’t say something like “Your VRIO model is weak, and your Porter’s five forces shows extreme strain which might liquidate your…”  ….

I’d just say: You need a website. Khalas.

Subhanaka la ‘ilmalana illaa ma ‘allamtana, innaka antal’aliimulhakiim.

Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except for what You have taught us. Verily it is You, the All-Knower, the All-Wise.

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