{"id":2851,"date":"2024-06-11T09:51:16","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T08:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.praxonomy.com\/blog\/?p=2851"},"modified":"2024-07-12T10:35:23","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T09:35:23","slug":"driving-tests-donald-rumsfeld-and-unknown-unknowns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.praxonomy.com\/blog\/driving-tests-donald-rumsfeld-and-unknown-unknowns\/","title":{"rendered":"Driving Tests, Donald Rumsfeld and Unknown Unknowns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By <\/strong>Alan Hewitt<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Board members need to be aware of challenges that may affect their companies or the boards themselves. At the same time, boards are facing ever increasing challenges in regard to both regulatory and technology-enabled change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When looking at these changes the much maligned Donald Rumsfeld comes to mind. At a U.S. Department of Defence news briefing in February 2002, Rumsfeld responded to a question about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that terrorists might use with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c . . . there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns\u2014the ones we don’t know we don’t know . . . \u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not a clear answer but one that became the basis for a great deal of commentary on the nature and limits of knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fourth category was added to create what became known as The Rumsfeld Matrix:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Known knowns<\/strong>. These are things we know that we know.
2) Known unknowns<\/strong>. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know.
3) Unknown unknowns<\/strong>. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.
4) Unknown knowns<\/strong>. There are things we know but don\u2019t realise we know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me give you a fairly trivial example of the first two cases of Known Knowns and Known Unknowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I took my driving test in the early 70s I had to have a good working knowledge of the Highway Code. I learned it to pass my test and would say that I knew what I needed to know and new it reasonably well. Now some 50-odd years later I know that I still need to be aware of and knowledgeable about what is in the Highway code but I also know that I don\u2019t know in detail what is in the latest version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The highway code was last updated in January 2022. So I\u2019m aware that the highway code has been updated and I know that it is still important but I don\u2019t know, in detail, what is in it and what has changed. As ignorance isn\u2019t an acceptable defence in law I’m in the position of knowing what I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another example, much more relevant for boards is the newly launched EU AI Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you know that this act has been passed by the EU? Were you aware that it will apply to all companies, whether they are resident in the EU or not, as long as the companies do business with or in any EU country? Are you aware of the consequences for breaking the terms of this act?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a good example of a change that has already arrived but which you may not be aware of. So which camp are you in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n