That’s No Bull

It was a country fair in Plymouth, England in 1906. One of the booths ran a contest, a rather unique contest. The prize was an ox which had been butchered and dressed, and for a small fee you could buy a ticket upon which you would write your best guess as to its weight.

Roughly eight hundred participants, who included farmers and butchers, but also many with no particular knowledge of cattle, bought tickets and guessed the weight of the animal.

After the contest, all the tickets were gathered up and the average of all the guesses was calculated. The average of all the guesses was 1,197 pounds. The actual weight of the creature was 1,198 pounds.

The story, popularized in James Surowiecki’s book The Wisdom of Crowds (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68143.The_Wisdom_of_Crowds) illustrates the uncanny ability of a large enough crowd to accurately guess sizes, weights, and even provide insights into imponderables.

Now, none of us could or should live our lives polling groups for our every decision. That would be a copout. But there is also much value to be had gleaning the insight of others on matters of importance for our own lives.

One such issue for most of us is finding our highest and best calling in life. Some of us are lucky and know from childhood exactly what we were put on earth to do, but not so most of us. And while it is true that each of us knows ourselves better than anyone else does, sometimes we need a little help in identifying our Giftings, and that’s where the “wisdom of crowds” comes in.

For those struggling to know their best Giftings I usually suggest “assisted introspection”, that is, asking those who know you well. They will give you a mosaic of answers, some of which will surprise you. “What are my Giftings?” “What things do I do naturally better than most others?” By listening and probing and asking for clarification and examples, you will start to learn things about yourself that you probably take for granted. When you start hearing the same thing from many, you can be pretty sure that you’re on to something.

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