I borrowed this expression from a chinese book * I am currently reading, only to find it ironic to find it in a book! “Two-legged bookshelf” refers to people (the bipeds – hence two-legged) who stores plenty of knowledge, but do not put those knowledge into good use. Hence these people only serve as storage, or bookshelf.
I have to say I am also guilty of being a two-legged bookshelf, although I don’t think I have that many books in the shelf! So why the thirst of knowledge? Why collect all these knowledge when it’s only going to be stored on the bookshelf? Maybe one day, these can be good “reference” material? One day, when the time is right, the knowledge will be available to be used? If that’s the case, I don’t think I have a very good reference system to recall that piece of knowledge when required!
There are 2 questions here.
- Why collect in the first place?
- How to impose a good reference system?
1. Why collect in the first place?
The main reason? Just because it’s easy to do so!
We just “collect”. The brain is used as a sponge whether we like it or not. We are an “equal opportunities” collector. We indiscriminately collect all information from all our senses. The obvious ones which are forced down our throat (sometimes literally!) are advertisements ranging from billboards, to pamphlets, to food samples, to word of mouth, to TV/radio ads etc.
The active collection that we make are through the news we read/listen/watch, the books we choose to read, the shops we choose to go into, the people we choose to talk to etc.
We most likely have an unconscious set of rules within us on what to collect, so saying that we indiscriminately collect is a bit misleading. But based on our internal rules, e.g. I think pink is the new black and my eyes will be drawn to anything pink, we do not care what the source is so long as it’s pink!
Given the ease of collection, no wonder we are tempted to collect! So what do we do with all these collections? If they’re meant to be useful, they’ll be useful only if we can retrieve them when we need them!
2. How to impose a good reference system?
So, if you have decided it’s worth collecting, it must also be worth setting up a good reference system as well. If you do not think you are ever going to retrieve them, why collect in the first place? 
I find that action-based reference system is a good reference system. To use learning Tai Ji as an example, I do not want to be just a “forms-collector”, a person who learns one form after another and says he has learnt Tai Ji. That is why I go to a push-hands class to gain some practical application of the theory. Any action based on theory will reinforce the theory and make you understand the theory. And when the theory is understood, it can be applied when you need it – voila, a good reference system!
Ok… where exactly are you leading me?
I guess this is to remind me not to be a two-legged bookshelf. To remind me to have the wisdom to seek out knowledge in a more active manner. Reading about business ideas is fine but not doing anything about it is not. Reading about great people changing lives is fine, but pure idolising is not enough. I am sure there must be something I can do with all the knowledge, so action is key. And my next action is to click “publish” and hope that will encourage you to take some action as well! 
* Currently reading on Yi Jing Management (大易管理） or more commonly known as I Ching – The book of changes, as applied to the business world.
p/s: I’m getting plenty of influences from the book Getting Things Done
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