Episode 192: Why “I Don’t Know” May Be the Three Most Powerful Words You Can Use
Have you ever stopped and asked yourself, “When was the last time I said, ‘I don’t know’…and actually meant it?” Think about that for just a moment.
For many physicians, those three words almost feel forbidden. They can make you uncomfortable. They can even make you feel vulnerable.
From the very first day of medical school, you were taught that your job was to know. You memorized anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, pathology, and thousands upon thousands of facts. During residency, you learned to make decisions quickly and confidently. Patients expected answers. Attendings expected competence. Your colleagues depended on you. And let’s be honest—there were moments when lives truly depended on your knowledge and your ability to make the right decision under pressure.
That mindset is not only understandable—it’s essential. It helps make you an outstanding physician. But here’s the problem. Many physicians unknowingly carry that same mindset into running their practices, leading their organizations, and making business decisions. And that’s where the trouble begins.
Today’s episode is about three simple words that may be the most powerful words you’ll ever say as a physician leader: “I don’t know.” Those three words are not a sign of weakness. They’re a sign of wisdom. They’re the beginning of learning. They’re the beginning of better leadership. And they may be the key to building a stronger, healthier, and more profitable practice.
I want to start by saying something that might sound a little strange coming from someone who spends her career teaching physicians about business and finance. I don’t expect you to know everything. In fact, I hope you don’t. Because if you think you have to know everything, you’re carrying around a burden that’s impossible to sustain.
Let’s talk about where that burden comes from.
Medicine is unique. Unlike almost any other profession, mistakes can have immediate, life-changing consequences. If someone comes into the emergency department with crushing chest pain, you can’t shrug your shoulders and say, “I’m not sure. Let me think about that for a few weeks.” Your patients deserve competence. They deserve preparation. They deserve confidence. That’s exactly what medical school and residency were designed to produce.
The educational system rewards certainty. Your exams had right answers. Board certifications had right answers. Clinical decisions often had right answers—or at least the best available evidence. You became an expert because you accumulated knowledge. The more knowledge you acquired, the more valuable you became. That’s a beautiful thing.
But then something happened.
You graduated.
Maybe you joined a private practice. Maybe you became employed. Maybe you eventually bought into a group. Perhaps today you’re the owner of a thriving medical practice. And almost overnight, someone handed you responsibilities that had absolutely nothing to do with medicine.
Now you’re expected to understand payroll, employment law, insurance contracts, revenue cycle management, coding, compliance, technology, cybersecurity, human resources, marketing, strategic planning, real estate, compensation models, bank financing, taxes, investments, leadership, conflict resolution, and culture. The list goes on and on.
Here’s the fascinating part. No one taught you these things. Medical school didn’t. Residency didn’t. Fellowship didn’t. Yet somehow many physicians believe they should already know them.
Where did that expectation come from?
I hear it all the time. “I should understand these financial statements.” “I should know what my accountant is talking about.” “I should understand my employment contract.” “I should know how to negotiate.” “I should know whether my practice is performing well.” “I should know what questions to ask.”
Why? Who decided you should know these things?
Certainly not your medical school. Certainly not your residency program. You were trained to diagnose disease—not decipher balance sheets. You were trained to perform procedures—not evaluate legal contracts. You were trained to save lives—not manage million-dollar organizations. And yet physicians routinely feel embarrassed when they don’t understand the business side of medicine.
I wish I could erase that embarrassment forever. Because there is absolutely nothing shameful about not knowing something you were never taught.
Let me say that again. There is absolutely nothing shameful about not knowing something you were never taught.
In fact, pretending you know can be far more dangerous than admitting you don’t.
Think about medicine for a moment. Would you rather have a physician who confidently gives the wrong diagnosis, or one who says, “I’m not certain. I’d like to order another test, consult a colleague, or get another opinion.” I think we all know the answer.
Confidence without curiosity can be dangerous. Curiosity saves lives.
Interestingly, physicians are naturally curious when they’re practicing medicine. You don’t walk into an exam room and immediately announce a diagnosis before asking questions. You ask about symptoms. You ask about family history. You ask about medications. You ask what makes the pain better and what makes it worse. You gather information before making decisions. Curiosity is already one of your greatest clinical strengths.
So why do so many physicians abandon that curiosity when the conversation shifts from medicine to business? Why do we suddenly think we’re supposed to have all the answers?
I think the answer is simple. Ego. Not arrogance—just the understandable pressure of wanting to appear competent. We don’t want our accountant to think we’re financially unsophisticated. We don’t want our attorney to think we don’t understand contracts. We don’t want our consultant to think we’re inexperienced. We don’t want our administrator to think we don’t understand operations.
So instead of asking questions, we nod. We smile. We pretend. And sometimes we make very expensive decisions based on incomplete understanding.
Here’s what I’ve learned after working with physicians across the country: the smartest physicians ask the most questions, not the fewest. They aren’t worried about protecting their image. They’re focused on improving their knowledge. They understand something incredibly important. Every expert they hire exists for one reason—to answer questions.
Your CPA expects questions. Your healthcare attorney expects questions. Your financial advisor expects questions. Your consultant expects questions. Your banker expects questions. Your insurance broker expects questions. That’s literally why they’re there.
So why not ask?
What if the simple phrase “I don’t know…” became the beginning of every important business conversation? What if instead of feeling embarrassed, you felt excited? Because every “I don’t know” is an invitation to learn something new.
And once you make that shift, something remarkable begins to happen…
When you become comfortable saying, “I don’t know,” you open the door to something much more valuable than certainty—you open the door to growth.
Those three little words invite collaboration. They invite expertise. They create opportunities to learn from people who have spent their entire careers mastering areas you were never expected to master. Instead of carrying the impossible burden of knowing everything, you begin surrounding yourself with people who complement your strengths.
Think about some of the questions that can transform a practice.
“I don’t know why our accounts receivable keeps climbing. Can you help me understand what’s driving it?”
“I don’t know if we’re coding appropriately. Could we be leaving revenue on the table?”
“I don’t know if this physician compensation model is sustainable.”
“I don’t know whether this lease agreement protects our interests.”
“I don’t know why employee turnover has increased over the past year.”
“I don’t know if we’re measuring the right financial metrics.”
Every one of those questions has the potential to uncover opportunities that could save—or make—hundreds of thousands of dollars over time. More importantly, they can reduce stress, improve culture, strengthen patient care, and help create a healthier organization.
One of my favorite sayings is that curiosity is a superpower.
The most effective physician leaders I’ve worked with aren’t necessarily the smartest people in the room. They’re the most curious people in the room. They ask thoughtful questions. They listen carefully. They invite differing perspectives. They’re genuinely interested in learning how things work and how they can improve.
Curiosity has always been at the heart of medicine. Every diagnosis begins with questions. Every physical exam begins with observation. Every treatment plan begins with understanding the patient in front of you.
Business leadership is no different.
Curiosity leads to better financial decisions. Curiosity leads to stronger teams. Curiosity leads to innovation. Curiosity uncovers blind spots before they become crises.
Imagine sitting down with your CPA each quarter and asking, “If this were your practice, what would concern you the most?” That’s a very different conversation than simply reviewing a tax return.
Imagine asking your healthcare attorney, “What legal risks do you see that I may not even recognize?”
Imagine asking your revenue cycle team, “If you could fix one thing that would dramatically improve our cash flow, what would it be?”
Imagine asking your practice administrator, “What’s one obstacle that’s preventing our team from doing their best work?”
Those kinds of questions invite meaningful conversations. They help you become a better leader, not because you suddenly know everything, but because you’re learning from the people around you.
One of the biggest leadership shifts every physician owner eventually has to make is letting go of the need to be the smartest person in the room.
That can be difficult. Your entire career has rewarded expertise. Your education reinforced the idea that your value came from having answers.
But leadership isn’t about having every answer.
Leadership is about creating an environment where the best answers can emerge.
The strongest physician leaders intentionally build teams of people who know things they don’t know. They hire outstanding practice administrators. They develop relationships with experienced healthcare attorneys. They work with knowledgeable accountants, financial advisors, consultants, coding experts, revenue cycle specialists, and technology professionals.
Those advisors aren’t there because the physician isn’t smart enough. They’re there because no one can become an expert in every discipline.
Think about the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Do you believe they personally prepare the financial statements? Write employment contracts? Configure cybersecurity systems? Design marketing campaigns? Of course not.
Their expertise lies in asking great questions, evaluating good information, making sound decisions, and building exceptional teams.
The same is true for physician leaders.
This doesn’t mean you should ignore your business or blindly delegate everything to someone else. I often tell physicians that your goal is to understand enough to lead, but not so much that you get lost in the weeds.
Understand your financial statements well enough to recognize trends.
Understand coding well enough to ask intelligent questions.
Understand employment law well enough to recognize when you need legal advice.
Understand your key performance indicators well enough to know when something doesn’t look right.
Then trust the experts you’ve assembled to handle the details.
That’s where real freedom begins.
Too many physicians spend countless hours trying to become experts in areas that someone else has already mastered. Meanwhile, the work that only they can do—the work of caring for patients, developing leaders, creating vision, and guiding the organization—gets pushed aside.
Your time is simply too valuable for that.
One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is permission to stop pretending you have to know everything. The moment you let go of that expectation, something remarkable happens. Your stress begins to decrease. Your confidence actually grows. Your conversations become richer. Your advisors become more valuable because you’re engaging them in meaningful dialogue instead of simply nodding your head and hoping you’ve understood everything.
You also become a better leader for your team.
When your employees hear you ask thoughtful questions, they learn that curiosity is encouraged. They become more willing to ask questions themselves. They become more engaged in solving problems instead of hiding them. Your culture shifts from one where people are afraid of looking uninformed to one where learning is celebrated.
That’s exactly the kind of organization people want to work in.
If you’ve been carrying the weight of believing you have to know everything about medicine, business, finance, operations, human resources, compliance, technology, and leadership, I’d like to offer you permission to set that burden down.
You don’t have to know everything.
You simply have to remain curious.
You have to keep asking questions.
You have to surround yourself with smart people and give them permission to help you.
At Health e Practices, that’s exactly what we do every day. We partner with physician owners and practice leaders to help them better understand the business side of medicine. Whether it’s improving revenue cycle performance, strengthening financial operations, developing leadership skills, or helping practices navigate complex business decisions, our goal is never to make physicians experts in everything. Our goal is to help you understand what matters most, ask better questions, and build systems that allow your practice to thrive.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the business side of medicine, you don’t have to figure it out alone. We’d be honored to be part of your team and help you build a healthier, stronger, and more profitable practice.
As we wrap up today, I’d like to leave you with one challenge.
This week, ask one question you’ve been avoiding.
Call your CPA.
Schedule time with your attorney.
Talk with your practice administrator.
Meet with your consultant.
Ask your billing team.
Ask your employees.
Be curious.
Because the smartest physician leader isn’t the one who knows everything.
It’s the one who never stops learning.
Your medical degree taught you how to save lives. Your curiosity will teach you how to build a practice that can sustain those lives—for your patients, your team, your family, and yourself.
Until next time…