Don’t be an Expert, be a Skilled Professional
An irk released into the wild by Casey Douglass
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| Picture used freely from the excellent Gratisography site. |
We live in a time where
the meaning of certain words has been watered down, like a beer we might buy from some dodgy bar. Remember when broadband was advertised as
“Unlimited”, but it turned out that it really wasn’t? Now we
have to suffer extra words to be added like “Totally Unlimited”, just
to get us back to within spitting distance of the original meaning.
Expert is another word
that I personally throw into the devalued category. Apparently
everyone is an expert now. I’m shooting at the subject more from
the angle of how people present themselves online, but it still
probably applies more broadly. Articles that talk about “finding
your niche” and “becoming an expert” are usually only a few
clicks away when trying to find advice about how to be more
visible/successful/sexy online. Okay, not that last one, I’m just
seeing if you’re still awake.
The problem lies in the
way that so many people brand themselves an expert when they seem to
be anything but. It’s the same kind of resume padding bollocks that
you often see on someone's C.V, the kind of artistic license that
would see a chronic nose picker describing themselves as skilled at
deep mining excavation, because you’ve obviously got to spin it
people. I know things are competitive out there but come on, fudging
your way along in the way some people seem to is just silly.
On the flip side, even
if you are an expert, the
term can bring connotations of closed-mindedness and pig-headedness.
How many times have you seen experts say something wouldn’t
happen and then it does, yet they still get to walk around with their
golden halo and appearance fee in tact? There is a lot to be said for
the Zen notion of bringing “beginners mind” to all things, the
state of mind where you are open to your present experience or task
without closing down possibilities because you “know enough that
that can’t happen!” I don't doubt that there some some truly amazing experts out there that fart rainbows and are every bit as amazing as the label might suggest, but as you can guess, this piece isn't really about those people.
I
don’t recall ever describing myself as an expert in anything, and I
don’t intend to start any time soon. I’d rather approach things
as a skilled professional, a label that at least implies a
willingness to learn and grow, and that doesn’t set up strange
expectations. If you are in a position to hire someone and you are
scoffing over your morning coffee, you are free to your opinion of
course. I’m sure you’ll have no problem hiring some amazing
person to fill your job opening, the world is full of experts for you
to choose from after all.
