Dr Goodman has some interesting theories on what makes someone an expert. I wonder if I’m realy an expert at anything. LOL!
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One thousand things make the difference between someone who is a genuine expert and a beginner, or a relative amateur.
For instance, I know enough about sales performance to tell you, with 100% confidence, what two colors to paint your office walls if you want to boost a sales team’s performance.
That’s pretty detailed, wouldn’t you agree?
These two colors won’t be the only or most important variables in determining achievement. But they matter.
I have at least 999 other salient tips, and perhaps thousands of additional insights and techniques that I can share on this topic.
When you consider all of that knowledge, that trade-skill, it amounts to a lot of critical information.
Add to this the fact that I am capable of:
(1) Organizing that information into coherent portions;
(2) Prioritizing these tidbits in respect to their relative importance;
(3) Applying the correct ones to specific situations;
(4) Communicating these pithy morsels in bite-size bits that novices can digest; and
(5) I’m able to learn, or to invent what I don’t yet know.
Put all of these capabilities together, and you have a genuine expert.
Compare this to people who write the same article or give the same speech 1,000 times.
They claim to be experts, as well.
But are they?
In a sense, yes, they are. They have become expert at repeating themselves, at reinventing the wheel, and most important, at convincing others that they are experts.
A wise client of mine was fond of asking: “How is it that McDonald’s has been able to sell billions upon billions of mediocre hamburgers?”
There is skill in that, undoubtedly.
But what, exactly, is the purview of that expertise?
It is in repetition, not invention.
Ray Kroc, who bought the rights to expand the concept the McDonald brothers invented, was brilliant. But again, his genius was in creating systems, not in creating burgers or shakes or fries, or even golden arches.
It takes a different kind of “smarts” to create something out of nothing versus multiplying what already has been done.
Before you bestow the “expert” status on someone, be clear about the area in which he or she is special.
If you can’t see 1,000 distinctions between them and average folks, don’t be so hasty in anointing them to such a lofty status.
Best-selling author of 12 books and more than 800 articles, Dr. Gary S. Goodman is considered a foremost expert in telephone effectiveness, customer service, and sales development. A top-rated speaker, seminar leader, and consultant, his clients extend across the organizational spectrum, from the Fortune 1000 to small businesses. He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.
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