AN INTRO TO KNOW-HOW

Know-How is "The Essential Differential" for Remarkability

IT'S A SUCCESS THING | BEYOND KNOWLEDGE | A DIFFERENT EXCELLENCE

Know-how is the core element of all of the greatest, most successful endeavors and lies at the heart of every success. Know-how represents the total collection of capabilities in one's skill set from which is drawn the ability to know exactly what to do and precisely how to do it in order to get things done: to truly succeed and achieve greatness.

In common usage the phrase "know-how" means possessing the specialized knowledge, skill or ability to do something correctly or to do something extremely well. In the technical sense, it refers to state-of-the-art knowledge that constitutes the highest level of expertise. And in the legal sense, it is recognized as proprietary information, secret knowledge and specialized information regarding processes and systems that are of such uniqueness that they are given legal protection and are monetarily valuated in business and bought and sold daily.

KNOW-HOW

It's a Success Thing

I have been extremely fortunate to have had a successful legal career of more than twenty years as a state and federal court trial lawyer, as well as an appellate lawyer, in the fields of employment law, intellectual property law and entertainment law. It was during the course of my legal career that I made a series of life changing and life enhancing discoveries by studying the lives of the people I was fortunate enough to have encountered.

The diverse range and nature of the legal cases I handled afforded me an invaluable vantage point from which to see the world and the way the winners and losers in life operate within it. My courtroom caseload allowed me to become fully immersed into the personal and professional lives of a considerable number of highly successful, effective and influential people.

I handled an enormous number of sensitive cases that involved Fortune 100 companies as well as the fortunes, careers and dreams of high-profile private citizens and public figures. I realized that several success patterns, as well as failure patterns, had become overwhelmingly apparent in the lives of the people whose cases I had become involved in.

I began to see common attributes, recurrent personality traits and persistent behavioral cycles among and within the lives of the people I was dedicated to helping.

Out of these rare experiences and because of the unique opportunity they presented, I made an extensive study of what the common denominators were among that rare breed of individual who achieves unrivaled victory in nearly every endeavor they undertake. I discovered the consistent core elements of success, as well as those of failure. I developed a fascination with the question of what made certain people successful while others failed. And I used the information I gathered to develop my own winning strategies and techniques for success in life and in the courtroom.

I have studied mainstream society and historical figures and made an in-depth study of the component parts of success in my own quest for answers and I learned the most from my own first-hand observations of seeing success and failure operating in the lives of so many people, most of whom were functioning under unbelievable pressures and across a wide-ranging emotional spectrum.

I have seen the best people at their worst . . .  and I have seen the best in people during the worst of circumstances. And I have insight, knowledge and assistance to share from the experience.

KNOW-HOW

It's Beyond Knowledge

In common historical usage, know-how refers to the ability to always know the right response and the right action to take in any given situation. In modern everyday speech the phrase "know-how" means possessing the specialized expertise, knowledge, skill or ability to do something correctly or to do something extremely well. In its most basic, form know-how is correctly knowing how to perform a specialized rather than a generalized task or function. It is the consistent ability to achieve a goal, arrive at a planned outcome or to accomplish the intended end result of any endeavor.

To achieve success on an exceptional level and on a consistent basis one must know the differences between information and knowledge and between knowledge and know-how.

Possessing facts, data and raw information does not equate to knowledge. Knowledge is the understanding of unorganized random facts and data and comprehending it in an orderly, organized and interrelated fashion. One can go far with that but it is not enough for true, consistent and remarkable success. The next step is to take a body of knowledge to the next logical and next functional level and re-tooling and re-tasking it for a specific intended purpose.

Know-how is the taking of knowledge to the next level. If knowledge is the understanding of information, then know-how is the talent and skill of knowing exactly what to do with that knowledge and knowing how and where and when to apply it.

Know-how is the creative and resourceful adaptation of that knowledge by intellectually processing the information and applying directed creative thought, reasonable foreseeability, innate desire and unrestrained imagination boldly and unapologetically to any undertaking.

Know-how is the fundamental alpha element of a winner's psyche.

In the law, and particularly in the field of intellectual property law, the phrase "know-how" is actually considered a "legal term of art" and has legal meaning and effect.

A term of art is a word or phrase that has a special meaning in a particular context. More specifically, a legal term of art is a word or phrase that has a widely accepted legal definition and contextual meaning under the law.

Legally speaking, know-how is most succinctly regarded as a specialized expertise or that level of expert skill, or specialized information, or body of knowledge that (1) allows one to accomplish an end result; and (2) is not readily available to others due to their lack of such expertise or skill; and (3) is outside of the realm of public domain, i.e., it is private or more accurately, a proprietary property.

Typically then in the legal sense, know-how actually refers to tangible material (such as blueprints, formulas, instructions, patterns, specifications, and trade-secrets) or intangibles (such as manufacturing practices, marketing concepts, quality control regimens, and testing techniques) all of which are not common knowledge.

Corporations literally buy and sell specifically identified "know-how" everyday in their quest to be the best in their industry. Individuals who wish to exceed in their chosen fields would be wise to take stock of this ingredient in their own self-analysis and self-inventory of their skills and abilities.

KNOW-HOW

It's About a Different Kind of Excellence

Deliberate excellence is the quality that turns any ordinary endeavor into a stunningly successful accomplishment. It is the most imposing attribute of a winner's composition because it is both an attitudinal mindset and a conduct trait. It is essentially a discipline. It is the single most motivating force that energizes all of the other positive traits and characteristics of a winner and boosts them to a higher level of overall effectiveness.

The word 'deliberate' has two meanings: as an adjective it describes the doing of an act with intention and planned purpose; and as a verb it means the act of considering something thoughtfully and with extreme care.

Deliberate excellence therefore means that every action you take is done with the intention that it be your best effort in every respect and with a specific purpose in mind; and also that it is undertaken after careful and thoughtful reasoning with the aim of accomplishing a task in the most superior manner possible.

Deliberate excellence is absolutely indispensable to the efficient interaction of all of the other success qualities and enables the total collection of winning attributes to effectively work together and combine their total yield to consistently produce successful results.

Whether on a personal level or a professional level, every enterprise you undertake will be met with either success or failure. And while there are certain steps you can undertake to attempt to assure yourself of a successful outcome, successes can be mediocre and unremarkable . . .  merely to be understood as the avoidance of an outright failure. But to not only succeed at something but to do so at consistently astonishing levels undoubtedly requires something unique and extraordinary. That exceptional and rare factor is deliberate excellence.

The mastery of knowledge is the ability to tap into one's highest level of potential and possibility. It is knowing how to master the art of accomplishment and has as a common denominator with all true success stories, the consistent practice of deliberate excellence to set yourself apart from the rest to achieve exceptional success in any endeavor.

Deliberate excellence is the uniquely inherent ingredient of all unrivaled successes. Instead of experiencing a simple victory or average success, the mastery of deliberate excellence allows one to achieve remarkable accomplishments. In its purest form it is known as "greatness." As a mindset and philosophical principle "deliberate excellence" can be believed in and more importantly, as an approach to professional development and a technique for success, it can be practiced as a discipline.

Best of all, it can be learned and eventually mastered.