The Flow of Knowledge: Learn – Apply – Teach

“Knowledge is power”. Yes it is. But the point to be noted is that, it has one property which makes it so powerful. For a better understanding about what is that property, let us start with a short story. 

Once upon a time there was a child who doesn’t know how to walk. So he learnt how to walk from his father. After a few days he tried to walk on his own by applying the walking lesson his father had taught him and succeeded. After a few years, this child had become a fully grown man, got married and had a kid. Now the time has come for the same ‘once upon a time child’ to teach to his own child how to walk and he didn’t do it. 

What do you think would happen? Well, the child learnt how to walk on his own. But the question is, did the ‘once upon a time child’ fulfilled his responsibility? Well, you and I both know the answer. The other question is, what is wrong with the ‘once upon a time child’? Don’t worry. By the end of this article you will know what is wrong with him and even what is wrong with many of us.

I agree that “knowledge is power”, but I would say, that the flow of knowledge is what makes it so powerful. Please see the below figure. I call it ‘The Flow of Knowledge’.

The flow of knowledge starts with Learning. Neither you nor I was born with ready knowledge. We learn. We learn how to walk. We learn how to talk. We learning how to run, how to dance, how to sit, stand and we learn much more. So learning has been the most important part of our life since we took our first breath. Isn’t it?

It is good to learn. Yes, go ahead; learn, learn more and even more. In doing so, you acquire knowledge. But that knowledge isn’t powerful enough, because, that is just the beginning of the flow. In order to unleash the real power the flow must continue.

In the story, by this time, the ‘once upon a time child’ learnt a lesson on how to walk from his father. But that lesson alone doesn’t give him the power to walk.

The flow of knowledge continues when we Apply what we learnt. This ‘application of what we learn’ gives our knowledge more power. In fact, this application gives us more knowledge because; our knowledge grows as we apply it. The more we apply, the more our knowledge grows. The more the knowledge flows, the more powerful it becomes.

I would like to remember the words from Robin Sharma. He says “Knowledge has no power. Only knowledge that has been applied and act upon has power”.

In the story, by now, the ‘once upon a time child’ tried to apply the lesson his father taught him. He tried to walk. He fell down a few times. He stood back up and he continued to apply the lesson and he succeeded. Every time he fell down, each time he applied the lesson; his knowledge grew, his knowledge flowed, and his knowledge became more powerful. So far, so good. But did you remember? He didn't teach his son how to walk. 

Acquiring required knowledge, applying it and getting the work done; if you think this is all we have to do, then you are wrong. That’s where the ‘once upon a time child’ went wrong. That is where many of us are going wrong. When you acquire knowledge, you have certain responsibility towards knowledge. The flow of knowledge still needs to be continued and that can be done by Teaching.

You learned. You applied. You acquired knowledge. Good. Then what? Would you just let your knowledge go in vain? Would you just let your knowledge (all your power) to rot inside you? No. you shouldn’t, because if you stop there; you are breaking the flow and you can never learn more. So, teach what you had learnt to others. While you teach, your knowledge grows; your knowledge multiplies. This unleashes the full power of your knowledge. Remember, teaching means more learning. See, now you are at learning again; and the cycle continues.

In Hinduism, people worship ‘Goddess Saraswathi’ as the ‘Goddess of Knowledge’. Saraswathi means ‘that which flows’. The water stays clear and fresh only as long as it flows. Once the water becomes stagnant it gives an unpleasant smell. In the same way knowledge is powerful only when it flows. Once the flow stops; knowledge comes of no use. So, the flow of knowledge is what makes it so powerful. Let the flow and multiply your knowledge (power).

P.S.: This is how many great people like Mahatma Gandhi, Abdul Kalam etc., did it. They learnt, then applied, the taught others. Might be with their speeches, might be through their books or might be by any other way; they did teach. They never stopped learning. They never broke the flow. That’s what helped them to make a difference.

 P.P.S.: Never try to teach without learning and applying. So LEARN first – APPLY next – then TEACH. Maintain the flow. Let your knowledge enlighten others. Let your knowledge spread. Let your knowledge grow. Let your knowledge flow. Unleash the power of your knowledge.

Hope it’s helpful to you. Thank you for reading.