As a general rule, the more experience people accumulate, the more skillful they become.
Yet, we can all point to people with lengthy experience who are not very good at what they do. People with experience don’t become more skillful until they become more expert.
So how does one become expert?
Experts know a lot. Over time, they gather practical information they can use to their advantage. While experience gives people the opportunity to collect insightful information, it doesn’t guarantee they will capitalize on the opportunity or even recognize what information matters.
By precisely describing what is happening in any given situation and why some actions or moves are more important than others, experts learn how to turn information into working knowledge.
By continually examining how situations unfold, soon-to-be experts begin to see causal relationships between choices and outcomes. It is the accuracy of these presumed cause-and-effect relationships that make them expert.
The ability to zero in on what is salient in any situation and why some information matters more than others is a direct reflection of these casual understandings. Experts don’t just collect information and facts and apply them. Rather, they know what superior information and facts are worth gathering and use them to predict how situations develop.
Unlike the false experts of the internet, where so-called experts know nearly everything there is about a topic or issue, true experts are unconcerned with irrelevant facts or information that doesn’t lend itself to new insights.
Those with a command of the facts but without the ability to use them to predict the future will be seen as knowledgeable but not expert.
As you continue to develop your expertise, work at becoming more accurate about what elements or factors matter most in any given situation. Then, begin to use those elements to see the causal relationships at play.
As your predictions about the consequences of any choice in an unfolding situation increase in accuracy, your expertise will grow with it. Once people learn of your predictive prowess, your reputation as an expert will grow as well.
True experts are rare and their opinions will always receive the highest demand.
A Daily Dispatch from the Front Lines of Leadership.
