What Makes You An Expert? - LinkedIn

How do you define expertise? Scientists have debunked that 10000 hours of practice does not make you an expert. So, if it is not practice, ... TarunaGoel Howdoyoudefineexpertise? Scientists havedebunkedthat10,000hoursofpracticedoesnotmakeyouanexpert.So,ifitisnotpractice,whatisitthatmakessomeoneanexpert? Well,IamnoexpertonexpertiseandIdon'thaveadefinition.Butbasedon someofmydiscussionswiththelearningcommunity(#lrnchat),myreadingonthistopicandmyinteractionwithexpertsthatIhavereallyenjoyedbeingaround,herearesomekeycharacteristicsthatIlookforinexperts:1)Theyare knowledgeable. 2)Theyhavevaluableexperience.3)Theyareabletocommunicatetheirexpertise.4)Theyareconnectedtootherexperts.5)Theyarehumbleabouttheirexpertise.6)Theyare continuous learners.7)Theyliketosharetheirknowledgeandwisdom.8)Theyknowthelimitationsoftheirownknowledge.9)Theyhavecontributedtotheirfield/areaofexpertise.10)Theyareacknowledgedasexpertsbyothersincludingtheirpeers. Ithoughtitmightbe interestingtoreadaboutsomedefinitionsofexpertsandexpertise.Here'sacollationofsomeofwhatIread.  On Quora,GeorgeSiemens(@gsiemens) definesanexpertas:Anexpertissomeonewhohassufficientexperienceandknowledgeinafieldtobeabletorecognizenovelpatternsfromnoise.Or,moreabstractly,it'stheabilitytocollapsepossibilitiesofatopic/domaintotheirmostsalientinordertodecide/actmeaningfully.  ThispostbyLorelleVanfossen, Whatgivesyoutherighttotellme? highlightssomeofthekeyissuesaroundexpertiseandmakesforagreatreading. Lorellesays:"Whatyouknowisimportant,buthowyouusewhatyouknow,andplowingthepathratherthanfollowingbehind,makesthedifferenceindefininganexpert." InthisHBRpodcastcalled'Learningwhatwiserworkersknow', DorothyLeonard,authorof CriticalKnowledgeTransfer ​andHarvardBusinessSchoolprofessortalksaboutretainingorganizationalexpertise.Shegoesontosay,“Sooneofthewonderfulthingsaboutgettingnewcomerstoworkwithexpertsisthatyouhaveaterrificopportunityforinnovation.Thatdoesmeanthattheexpertsandthelearnersalikehavetohaveacertainamountofhumilitytolistentoeachotherandobserveeachother.Butwehaveseenterrificinstanceswhereanexpertwith30yearsofexperiencelearnsfromsomeonewhocomesinwithadifferentsetofskills,andviceversa.Andit’sthattwo-waytransfer.That’swhyit’sapush-pull,notjustapush.” CentralIntelligenceAgency(CIA),asonewouldunderstandtobe,isaworldofexperts.So,howdotheydefineexpertise?Inabookpublishedby CenterfortheStudyofIntelligence,'AnalyticCultureintheU.S.IntelligenceCommunity',theauthor, Dr.RobJohnston, says: "Expertiseiscommitmentcoupledwithcreativity.Bythis,Imeanthecommitmentoftime,energy,andresourcestoarelativelynarrowfieldofstudyandthecreativeenergynecessarytogeneratenewknowledgeinthatfield.Ittakesagreatdealoftimeandregularexposuretoalargenumberofcasestobecomeanexpert." Hegoesontosay,"Expertsareindividualswithspecializedknowledgesuitedtoperformthespecifictasksforwhichtheyaretrained,butthatexpertisedoesnotnecessarilytransfertootherdomains."  Thereareparadoxestoexpertiseandsometimesbeinganexpertcanbeaweakness.Fromthesamebook, "Althoughonewouldexpectexpertstobegoodforecasters,theyarenotparticularlygoodatit. Researchershavebeentestingtheabilityofexpertstomakeforecastssincethe1930s. TheperformanceofexpertshasbeentestedagainstBayesianprobabilitiestodetermineiftheyarebetteratmakingpredictionsthansimplestatisticalmodels.Seventyyearslater,aftermorethan200hundredexperimentsindifferentdomains,itisclearthattheanswerisno." Perhaps,thisiswhereestablishingteamsofexpertsthatoffermorebalancedexpertisecomesintoplay.Butgoodteamworkandestablishingcollectiveintelligenceisachallengeforanotherday. Itseemsthatmystudyonthistopichasjuststarted.Andinthejourneyofexploringvariousperspectivesaboutexpertise,Ihavetakentherecommendationby GeorgeSiemens andgotmyselfacopyof"TheCambridgeHandbookofExpertiseandExpertPerformance".Iamjustbeginningtolearn... Theonlytruewisdomisinknowingyouknownothing.~ Socrates ------------------ Thisisanabridged versionofapostwhichwasoriginallypublishedat: http://tarunagoel.blogspot.ca/2015/05/what-makes-you-expert.html 11 8Comments Like Comment Share StarletteTolver Isn'titfunthatlearningneverends!Iamalwayseagertowakeupandseewhattheworldisgoingtooffertoday! Like Signintolikethiscomment Reply Signintoreplytothiscomment 2Likes 5y Reportthiscomment TarunaGoel YesStarletteTolver!Myfavouritereflectionquestionis'Whatdidyoulearntoday?' Like Signintolikethiscomment Reply Signintoreplytothiscomment 5y Reportthiscomment ShagunBhanot,CPHR(She/Her/Hers) Tarunaanothergreatpiecefromyou...morethananythingIlikedthesimpleyetprofoundobservationsyoumadeonyourinteractionwithpeoplewithvariedexpertise...itwasevidentthatthedesiretolearnandbehumbleiswhatformstheessenceofbeinganexpert... Like Signintolikethiscomment Reply Signintoreplytothiscomment 2Likes 6y Reportthiscomment TarunaGoel Shatarupa(Dash)SinhaThanksRupa! Like Signintolikethiscomment Reply Signintoreplytothiscomment 5y Reportthiscomment Shatarupa(Dash)Sinha exactlymythoughtstooTaruna!keepsharing.lookforwardtourwritingandshare Like Signintolikethiscomment Reply Signintoreplytothiscomment 1Like 5y Reportthiscomment HannahJayapriya Ilovethefactthatyouobservesomuch,findtheexactmixofwords,andweaveeverythingtogethertocreateapatternthatformanywashiddenallalonginplainsight.Yourdoggedcommitmenttoexcellenceandcontinuouslearningamazesme,TG! Like Signintolikethiscomment Reply Signintoreplytothiscomment 1Like 6y Reportthiscomment TarunaGoel ThankyouforsuchkindwordsHannah!Iwritetolearnandreflect.WhenIreceivefeedbacksuchasthis,itmakeseverythingevenmorevaluableandenriching.Thanksfortakingthetimetoshareyourcomment. Like Signintolikethiscomment Reply Signintoreplytothiscomment 1Like 6y Reportthiscomment Seemorecomments Tovieworaddacomment,signin Tovieworaddacomment,signin AdoptinganAnti-RacistPedagogyinTeachingandLearning Dec13,2021 UDLforWorkplaceTrainingandLearning Nov12,2021 WhenChoiceGivesVoice-UniversalDesignforLearning(UDL) Sep8,2021