How to Become an Expert in Three Simple Steps

Everyone needs to have some specific area of expertise.   While broad knowledge is useful, one or two areas in which you are deeply knowledgable are important for career and personal growth reasons.   These areas of expertise become what you are known for professionally, and will have a direct impact on your financial growth and security.

Fortunately, the steps required to become an expert in almost any subject are pretty simple:

1) Learn - really learn -  everything you can about the topic

Anyone can read a book or take a class on a particular topic, but that is only where the learning begins.   What periodicals do you read?   What conferences, seminars, or other gatherings do you attend to learn more from other people?   Which blogs do you follow?     These and other sources of information plant the seeds for new thought patterns around the subject and stretch your sphere of knowledge a little each time.

Be careful not to disregard newcomers to the topic or those who know far less than you.   Even if you know 95% of the available information and they know only 10%, their 10% might include the 5% you don't know.

2) Practice the topic daily in some way shape or form

This isn't practicing in the form of mindless repetition each day, but rather thoughtful, intensive application of your knowledge into something real.   You might work on a computer program, work on your car's engine, or some other productive activity.   This can be either professionally or as an avocation, but the goal is to use your knowledge to do something real and practical.

Another approach would be to teach a course or write a book.   Depending on the topic, your local community college may need someone to teach a night course on your area of interest.    Learning by teaching is a time honored way to increase your knowledge of a topic.

This exercise is important because it demonstrates the difference between theory and practice.    Remember, theory and practice are the same in theory but not in practice.   Learning the difference deepens your expertise.

3) Repeat steps 1 and 2

Learning and doing, if done once or twice, may give you a better understanding of a topic but they will not make you an expert.     Malcom Gladwell, in his book "Outliers", states that mastery of a subject requires about 10,000 hours of practice.      This is, obviously, a considerable amount of time - it would be approximately five years worth of full time professional work.   ( At this point, I'd like to specifically point out that I said it would be simple, not easy).

While many forms of advice are given every day about securing your financial future, consider this:  almost all of them assume that you have some area of deep expertise which serves as the engine to power future success.    If you don't have one yet...why not?

Software engineering is my chosen area of expertise, and I can say that with 20+ years of experience, I am still learning new things each day - literally.   Find something you're interested in and go for it!

You May Be Right (and I'm not crazy)

Have you ever been in a discussion or meeting where the goal was to choose between two or three alternatives?    Especially in a setting populated by exceptionally bright and talented individuals, these kinds of meetings can become very ... spirited.    Exceptionally bright and talented individuals are frequently also very passionate and aren't afraid to call other ideas unworkable, impractical, or perhaps even just plain old stupid (As an engineering-type, I'd point out we are seldom known for our people skills).

If you find yourself in one of these types of discussions, you may discover an impasse which seems to be difficult if not impossible to overcome.   Each party will likely have very sound and very specific reasons why their particular approach is far superior to any of the others.    You may believe that your approach is in fact the best one based on the knowledge of the situation you possess.    What to do?  Try saying something like:

"You may be right, but I'd like to know why you think that".

Seriously.

I have found that saying these words, sincerely, does several important things:

o   It affirms that you respect the other individuals and their points of view

When a discussion becomes heated, it becomes easier to see the other people in the group as opponents.     This attitude is contagious; admitting that the other's idea may be better defuses this and helps turn the focus back to the ideas and not the people.

o   It opens communications (and your mind)

The individual receiving the above message will likely be happy to explain why they think the way they do.    Rarely, in a group of competent people, does a dumb idea get put forth and championed by a team member. As a result, asking the above question likely will provide you with some insight or information that you didn't have previously.   The reverse is also true - the other participants will be more open to listening and learning about your perspective.

o   It allows people to be heard in a receptive environment

One of the most frustrating things for members of a team is to not be heard, to be marginalized, or perhaps even be ignored.    By inviting input and commentary in this way, you avoid those dangers and instead facilitate teamwork.    Even if a particular idea is later rejected, the individual and the team will remember and appreciate the fact they had input people actually listened to and considered.

Being able to have a passionate discussion is  the mark of a team staffed with good talent; being able to draw people into the conversation and bring the team together without resentment or bitterness after the decision has been made is the mark of a great leader.  

I wish I had learned this at the start of my career; it would have made some time periods much less stressful.    But perhaps you think this approach is flawed in some way.   You may be right, but I'd like to know why you think that...

Employee Engagement

After getting in, the lock bar comes down across your lap and the theme park attendant walks by to inform you of certain doom should you dare to stick your hands up or outside of the roller coaster car.   Then, with much clacking and lurching, the coaster starts forward and you're off!   A gentle turn or two and you are headed towards the long climb that begins the ride.   The coaster glides up hill, slowing almost to a complete stop, when the chain engages and pulls the coaster up the incline.

Think about what might happen if the chain didn't engage: you'd roll backwards a short ways a come to a stop.   That'd be exciting, wouldn't it?     Yet some people would appear to prefer such an outcome in their professional careers - they get to the start of a potentially great ride and then ... fail to engage.   They slide backwards, come to a stop, and sooner or later are removed from the track to make way for someone else.    Although there are likely as many reasons for this as there are people who succumb to them, some of the more common ones I've noticed are as follows:

Fear of Failure

Fear of failure simply means that the individual would rather not try at all than try and not succeed.   While a small amount of fear can be energizing to some individuals, it is paralyzing to others.     What will everyone think?     Will everyone laugh?

The fact is that failure is a reality of life.   Benjamin Franklin is claimed to have said, "I did not fail the test, I simply learned 100 ways to do it wrong."     Failure is the basis of success, provided you learn from those failures.  Don't fear failure, learn from it.

Mental Absenteeism

This can take many forms, but perhaps the most surprising to me is that of the Internet Surf King, or "ISK".   The ISK spends hours on end "researching" all manner of topics, news, and unrelated information.     Coming in at the crack of dawn (well, it would be if the sun rose at 9:30am), taking a short power lunch from 11 until 2-ish, then lingering until just after the boss leaves  for the day seems to be a common theme.

If you've fallen victim to this pattern, or one like it, find a way to change:   avoid whatever it is that takes your focus off your work, change your working hours and habits, or simply find a new job that is more interesting and/or rewarding.   You'll find that time passes much more quickly and that you feel a lot better about your day.

Arrogance

This one is a tough one.   One individual who worked for me told me that his job was beneath him and not very interesting.   While it may not have been interesting, it struck me as pretty arrogant given that he wasn't particularly effective and didn't really stand out among his peers.

The best solution here might simply be to move onto another position - while doing so won't help the individual directly, it will probably remove a burden from the rest of the team and allow the business to find someone who is happy to be there to do the job.

There are lots of articles about how organizations should attempt to engage their employees, and while there is certainly some good information provided therein, it's not entirely up to one's boss or manager to ensure that they are engaged - some of that responsibility must be borne out by the staff as well.     The next time you get on that coaster and get to the start of the long climb, try engaging the challenge to the level of your capability and ignore any temptation to just slide back.   The thrills you'll receive from the subsequent ride will likely make the effort worth it.

I was always afraid of screaming while riding on a roller coaster.    It's not that I didn't think it was appropriate, but rather I couldn't get the picture of me (with my mouth wide open) and an unfortunate winged insect both being in the wrong place at the wrong time out of my mind.

The Mouse and the Elephant

Have you ever started a large project and felt immediately overwhelmed by the amount of work to do?   Or perhaps there is something you would like to do but are discouraged by the amount of time required to accomplish your goal.   Whatever the project or goal might be, I've come to believe that the biggest obstacle to ultimately achieving such a goal is looking at the task as a single, sustained effort.   There is another way;  as the old saw goes, "How does a mouse eat an elephant?   One bite at a time.".

As humans, we have a finite attention span.   While it varies from person to person, no individual can concentrate on a  large, complex topic indefinitely - we are wired to need change, to need a break, to feel as though we are making progress.    This last piece, especially, is important - it helps to maintain momentum and prevent the loss of motivation. 

Instead of looking at such an undertaking as one big task, think of it as many small ones.   This approach allows one to enjoy many small victories along the way, and provides a relatively constant feeling of accomplishment.      I have used this approach many times in both my personal and professional endeavors - it's not developing a large, complex program but instead building a number of small software components that work together.   It's not earning a college degree or even finishing a number of classes, it's completing the assignments and passing the tests.   It's not building an airplane but instead building many small pieces of an airplane and putting them together.

Following this approach, there is a special bonus - you will be able to look back and see how all those minor successes and victories add up to something big, and it won't have cost any more time than if you had done something else.   Ken Scott, the irrepressible sales representative for Van's Aircraft, tells the story of a man who visited their display at Oshkosh each year for a number of years, each time asking how long it would take to build one of their planes and each time being disappointed at the length of such a project.   After a number of years, Mr. Scott finally pointed out (in his usual blunt manner), that if the man had simply started building when he first asked instead of belly aching about it for all those years, he would have been done by now.

The next time you feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of a project or task put in front of you, take a moment to consider how you could break up the task into more manageable pieces.   

I haven't eaten a whole elephant recently, but the above idea continues to do engage me in my job and my hobbies.   What do you think?