Expertise: Asset or Liability

There is a certain attraction in consulting an expert. We believe they have insights, knowledge, skills and experience that will prove valuable to us.

Assuming they are not the self-proclaimed braggarts who are just full of hot air, but have deep expertise that they have gained through genuine focus and graft, then they may well have valuable input.

But there is a danger. When experts believe they are 'experts', its possible that they start to believe they are 'right', instead of simply seeing they are being the best they can be right now, based on what they know right now.

Many incredible breakthroughs have been held back for years because they contradicted the experts of the time. The breakthroughs didn't fit with the expert's expertise and so were rejected.

It seems to me the real experts are those who do not see themselves as such. Instead, they see themselves as on a lifelong quest to get better, always open to new ways, knowing there is a better way that they just haven't found yet and always willing to change direction when they realise they've been barking up the wrong tree.