All of us aspire to become experts in something, or so I hope. Let us start New Year 2016 with some tips that could make the journey from beginner to expert faster and more exciting.
1) Love it!
Love thy subject as yourself
Love is at the heart of all great relationships. Learn to love your subject/field/area like yourself, and it will love you back for sure, in good measure.
This is so simple and cliched, yet I believe, very fundamental and true. Love and passion towards one's field is a necessary criterion for development of expertise. Time and again, we see people who do not really enjoy their work get confined to mediocrity, and those who derive joy from what they do attain greatness.
2) Give it time
Give some time for love to develop
Passion is often difficult to come by! Yes, every relationship requires hard work and patience. So does expertise. Often, people judge a field as dull or difficult from their initial impressions. One needs to have an open mind. A little more exploration may lead us to totally new and unexpected discoveries and possibilities of our subject. Being impatient may lead to the permanent loss of such revelations.
3) Find out why
Find out why you (should) love your field
Unconditional love is possible when one knows why one loves! Why you belong where you do! If you are struggling to love your subject and/or confused whether to pursue or abandon it, dig deep - into the subject, into yourself. Ask yourself: why would I love this? Can I ever love this? Even if you already love your field, a deeper inquiry would help you cement your bonding with the subject.
A clear exposition of your life goals and the fundamental mission of your chosen area would enable you to either establish a deep identification with the field or to make you realize that such a connect is very improbable.
4) Break up!
Break up if you must.
Knowing when to change gear, to direct your energies on another field is an important life skill in this regard. Do not let the fear of the new keep you from making the shift. You could make it easier by making the transition gradual rather than sudden and total. But it would be wise to ensure that one gives a fair chance to one's practice before taking the leap onto something else.
5) Do It!
Learn by doing - more and more, of different things.
Doing has its own value. We learn certain aspects of our work only when we make our hands dirty.
Every field is composed of different sub-fields. Further, every domain would also have certain core/primary activities and support activities. To be an expert, seek out more responsibilities, get into the action in as many of these sub-fields as possible, and in both primary and support activities.
6) Go far and deep!
Conceptualize.
The rigour and sometimes grind of doing can often blind us to the bigger picture. While we may become experts in doing certain things right, we may not necessarily be doing the right things. This is more likely, when we are not quite our own boss, when what we are doing is dictated from the top.
We should therefore constantly take a step back and re-evaluate what exactly we are doing and why we are doing it. We need to build a clear conceptual understanding of our work, and place it in the right context, in terms of whether and how it aligns with our personal and organizational goals.
7) Get out!
The specialized knowledge and learning of our field needs to be complemented continually by our general knowledge in as many other disciplines as possible. Often, we operate in a shell, within the confines of our discipline, or worse, within the walls of our organization or even department!
Break the silos, seek out new ideas, experiences, people and disciplines. No two fields are unrelated; there is a relationship waiting to be established or discovered between any two people or ideas. You may have the opportunity to establish such a bond. Utilize it. Continuously.
This is why #Innovators preside over mass marriages of #ideas
https://t.co/VEYg3xglKq
#Innovation https://t.co/H2ekdDB11o
— Dheep (@TheDeepServant) July 31, 2015
8) Ask for help
Build on the knowledge, experience and expertise of as many others as you can. Often, it does not occur to people that simply asking someone for advice may solve the problem at hand. At other times, we choose not to ask, thanks to the "not invented here" syndrome.
Let us celebrate the smartness in others. And build them, develop them - both our team-mates (subordinates and superiors both) and others outside our team and organization. This would be a win-all situation.
9) Share
Share your learning, expertise, knowledge as well as ignorance.
Intellectual capital in many organizations reside in compartments. People do not often have the time or inclination to share, educate and mentor others. Find time for it. Write, publish, speak, attend conferences, seminars, networking events. As in Hiesenberg's uncertainty principle, the very act of sharing one's knowledge changes it, often even as it is being shared.
10) Stay grounded
We should maintain a healthy skepticism of our knowledge and beliefs, especially in a world where knowledge is expanding and changing at a 'break-brain' pace. Yes, expertise is often overrated.
Beautiful message: How & Why #Knowledge is often overrated & #Ignorance underrated. http://t.co/a5Oh2w04rB https://t.co/TzXjajftnx
— Dheep (@TheDeepServant) September 16, 2015
And ignorance underrated. Let us find time to celebrate our ignorance as well. While our knowledge is finite, our ignorance is potentially infinite. It can be a very precious asset in our quest for expertise. A good and deep awareness of our ignorance would motivate us to stay teachable, keep learning and adapt fast.
Yes, let us stay hungry and stay foolish!
What do you think of the above? Please do add your thoughts and your tips for expertise in the comments section or on social media (where I would be sharing this). Thank you.
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