I got a very interesting insight last week as I remembered my German
stay for almost 8 years. The majority of the society there demonstrates a self-driven
desire to perfect whatever they are doing. In Brazil, where I stayed for 5
years, on the other hand one finds a way out through the “Jeitinho Brasileiro”. In India we talk about the “Jugad”.
In the colloquial day to day English in India, whenever we want to
delegate writing a letter, we first ask “Do you know how to write a letter?” and
then at times “Can you please write a letter? In Brazil one asks “Vôce sabe como escrever uma carta?”
and then ask “Pode escrever uma carta por favor? Whereas in Germany one asks
directly „Können sie einen Brief schreiben?” – no one asks „Wissen Sie
einen Brief schreiben?“, which is
gramatically inappropriate.
In German the usage of the
verb “Know” is grammatically inappropriate when it involves “Doing”!!! Whereas
in the colloquial day to day English in India and in Brazil usage of the verb “Know”
when “Doing” is involved is quite natural. This is when I realised that in
almost all the trainings that we attend in India mainly Knowhow is imparted, in
some programs with some simulations and exercises for the “doHow” though.
However there is hardly any program where only the “doHow” training is done on
the job.
Supporting this grammatical
phenomenon, the vocational training in Germany and many European countries is quite
matured and the focus is just the “doHow” with Knowhow being an obvious part of
the “doHow”. Unfortunately in India even the Diploma institutes and Industrial
Training Institutes generate graduates who have good knowhow but lack “doHow”
resulting in the competency gap that one keeps discussing and debating in all
forums.
With this insight when I thought of the way skills were imparted in the good olden days all over the world, it was quite insightful that the main focus was on the “doHow”.
On the other hand, I realised
that in today’s world of extreme competition, free access to knowhow through
internet and the drive to get quick returns, using mobile technology posing
challenging questions that one can answer during the normal working can result
in a “doHow” revolution.
