Comments on: becoming an expert (part one)

By: Sandra @ DebutanteClothing

Sandra @ DebutanteClothing — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:42:28 +0000

I think being an expert really comes down to can you communicate what you know? I know people who know much more than I do about vintage clothing, but not know how to use tools to communicate this info. Communication skills really make or break you. I'm an expert on vintage fashion, chronic illnesses, work place communication .-= Sandra @ DebutanteClothing´s last blog ..Links: The Week in Vintage =-.

By: Marcia Francois

Marcia Francois — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:06:05 +0000

Oliver, it’s not Tim who delegated the wife apology to an Indian assistant. It’s some other guy.

I also don’t agree with everything in the book (well, I don’t agree with everything about my HUSBAND and I love him, so I’m naturally contrary) and I still rate it as one of my top 10 non-fiction books. I take what I like and discard the rest.

By: Sqoosh Your Inner Critic!

Sqoosh Your Inner Critic! — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:57:13 +0000

How I Became an Expert…

During the first few weeks of starting this blog I would say to myself, “But I’m not an expert! All I know is I’ve tried a lot of things; some things worked and some things haven’t. I just want to share what I know…is th…

By: 2008 | Pace and Kyeli

2008 | Pace and Kyeli — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 23:17:59 +0000

[...] growing pains began. We reconciled our goal of helping people with our goal of making money. We became experts at lots of things, and deeply regretted using the word “expert” instead of “competent” or [...]

By: _rck_

_rck_ — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:21:37 +0000

Mhm … I dont know. There is a significant field of research into experts and expertise out there that is not really reflected in this discussion. People in that community would prefer to have something in the definition of consistently outperforming others in the area of expertise, not just trumping the people one typically bumps into it. In my nine years in Texas I have yet to run into anyone that can best me on Austrian history, but that does not make me an expert in Austrian history by far.

I find the time horizon element is missing; most people in the expert research community think that 1800 hours devoted to a topic is required; that’s 45 weeks of 40hs a week, or effectively a person year of work.

Another aspect that is missing is a sound knowledge of where the limitations of one’s understanding are. I have a good idea of what parts of Austrian history that I know about I understand way too little about to pass as an expert; and I am NOT an expert.

I suspect that the notion of an expert is now up for re-designation–and therein I see the validity of your post–because the areas of expertise have shrunk down to subject matters that are too small to be practical in problem solving and deployment. (Nietzsche used to joke of the expert on the brain of the blood-sucking leech as an exemplar for hyper-specialization in the early 20th century.)

By: becoming an expert (part two) | Pace and Kyeli

becoming an expert (part two) | Pace and Kyeli — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 15:48:23 +0000

[...] is our first time with Kyeli posting part one of a two-part post and me posting the other half. It’s really [...]

By: Megan M.

Megan M. — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 10:48:46 +0000

Oliver: I think my overall understanding of Tim (after quite a lot of reading of his material) is that he experiments with crazy things without necessarily suggesting outright that that’s the way to do them. That’s one of the things I value about his bonkers ideas. But it’s always possible I just interpret him the way that turns out to be most useful for me. Which I guess is still good one way or another! ^_^

By: Oliver Danni

Oliver Danni — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:15:27 +0000

Megan: I dunno, I think maybe other people who aren’t me pay more attention to things that upset them than I do, but when something upsets me? I go pay attention to something that doesn’t. ;-) At any rate, I did feel like he was advocating the things I objected to before I stopped paying attention, because he was (a) doing those things and (b) using them as examples of things he was doing that are helping him accomplish his goal and (c) encouraging others to accomplish the same goal using the means he has. To me, a + b + c = advocating.

Kyeli: Like I said, I did like YOUR post. I liked it enough to crosspost it, so clearly I must like it! (Don’t you know I tend not to bother that much with things I don’t like? ;-) )

*posts about this again*: http://peaceofpie.livejournal.com/677122.htm

By: Megan M.

Megan M. — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:23:34 +0000

I think it’s interesting how Tim can just reference particular things without necessarily specifically advocating them, and make people upset. It happens constantly. I think it’s probably part of the reason he gets so much attention, teehee!

By: Kyeli

Kyeli — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:47:21 +0000

@James, yes! However, in my opinion, you don’t need others to proclaim you an expert. I don’t care a jot if anyone else thinks I’m a knee expert, but I feel like I am and I’ll tell others I am and offer advice if asked. I won’t say I’ve studied knees in college or anything – I won’t be less than truthful and authentic. Pace, tomorrow, will post part two, which goes into more detail on how we do it. (:

@Oliver, I know, we don’t like a lot of what Tim says and does. We read the book and took bits and pieces from it. We learned what we needed to learn and discarded the rest. Another thing we found, as have many others, with Tim is that he’s an expert in everything ever and his path is far harder than he makes it seem. I hope it didn’t totally destroy the whole post for you! *hugs*