Editorial

Doing and knowing

Since antiquity, Western philosophical thought has been based on the twin verbs: to be and to have. For centuries the human spirit has been explored in terms of the dilemma: should we try to be or to have? Or to have do we also need to be? A famous Dane wandered the Castle grounds in perplexed reverie: to be or not to be, that is the question.
However, in a more fleshy realm, where thoughts are less likely to enter, another verb holds sway: to do. It was quickly learnt that in order to make progress – for the economy of the world to function – people need to do things. In various languages, this also includes the verbs to build or to produce, or similar concepts. In our daily professional lives we are asked to do things based on experience and knowledge – one of our basic skills is knowing how to do things. The more we know, the better we do…in general. Whether we learn to do through knowledge or acquire knowledge through doing things is a question philosophers still debate. Suffice it to say that we need both knowledge and ability, an understanding of what to do and how to do it.
Many people have the notion that if they produce, all they need to do is sit back and reap the rewards of their labours. Some companies make things and sit back…
Sales will come along, they seem to think. And some actually do get by like this for some time. Word of mouth is enough, initially. In agricultural and early industrial society, local markets were sufficient to keep many people in work and to create sometimes even quite large companies.

Today this is no longer the case. A table needs more than two legs: in addition to doing and knowing how to do it is also to disseminate knowledge and skills; these are the three basic activities of entrepreneurs today.
A good product which is not advertised or promoted remains in the warehouse. Companies able to disseminate knowledge continue to make their products; others, who fail to communicate with the market, sooner or later, have to stop. Failure in communications is fatal for any business – you might even say human - enterprise today. Casanova used to say that his reputation with women was based on his exploits, his prowess and, above all, his reputation. You could say he understood the essence of marketing.
Returning to our daily lives, the sad fact is that very few clean transport companies know how to get their message across. They wait for a customer to buy an electrically powered vehicle or to convert to LPG. They spend thousands of Euro on R & D, but when you ask what steps they have taken to inform customers they look at you as if you were speaking a foreign language. «I have spent everything on production, I don’t have anything left for advertising”, “we can’t sell and have no money to promote sales”, “advertising is for big business”, “the government should inform the general public, not us” and so on.
Fine - they can wait. Whilst others, who do know how to communicate, get their message over. Diesel? Aren’t we already beginning to think of it as clean energy?. Soon, dual purpose power kits will be available at reasonable prices. Let’s wait…

Ugo Nazzarro

 

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