expertise | P Morgan BrownP Morgan Brown

I meet a lot of experts everyday. Particularly when it comes to the social Web. Merlin Mann‘s video about the difference between a true expert and an advanced beginner really hits home in this age of self-proclaimed experts. His argument? That many on the Web ignore the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition. The premise of which is that learning more than a novice doesn’t make you an expert. Instead it makes you an advanced beginner. And advanced beginners either know that they are still beginners or think that they are experts. It’s the second group you have to look out for.

Mann says that all of these advanced beginners mean that you have to be skeptical of the advice you take about who you are, what you think and what you think your options are when it comes to making decisions based on your incomplete information set.

I agree. There’s a big difference between being an expert and an advanced beginner. With the pace of change and new tools launched ever-increasing it’s easy to be just out ahead of the novices; but it doesn’t make any but a very few true experts.

This idea also dovetails with my post about building expertise vs. building knowledge. For an advanced beginner it’s easy to write a post on “7 ways to play better piano” and seem like an expert, and reading “7 ways to play better piano” may make you feel like you’re a more knowledgeable piano player, but are you really better before you actually sit down and put in the work to get there?

Me? I’m updating my business card to say “advanced beginner” and celebrate that I’m working towards something meaningful and valuable through the process of it all.

Enjoy the video:

Makebelieve Help, Old Butchers, and Figuring Out Who You Are (For Now) from Merlin Mann on Vimeo.

Image from Wikipedia

Funny where you can get inspiration from. Last night I was watching Monday Night Football and caught a line from John Gruden, former Super Bowl winning coach and now-commentator for ABC/ESPN that really rang true for me. He was talking about perfecting your craft and continuing to work on the small things, even for pros at the NFL-level. His quote was:

“The accumulation of work is a powerful thing.”

Simple to be sure. Powerful, I think.

It really rings true to me when it comes to blogging and building your personal expertise. There are days when no one reads this blog. Zero visits. Including me. There are posts that get a handful of views. This blog doesn’t make any money. This blog doesn’t generate leads and it doesn’t help me find a job. (I’m gainfully employed at the moment. Thanks.) So why am I blogging?

One could easily make the argument that blogging here isn’t the highest and most valuable use of my time. That there are other things that could do more for me than writing here. But to me that goes against the spirit of blogging and of creating your own content.

Precisely because of what Coach Gruden said: “The accumulation of work is a powerful thing.”

It’s not the accumulation of knowledge. It’s not reading the most books, it’s not passively accumulating information. It’s the accumulation of work that creates power.

Note, I’m not saying not to read. I read a ton. But I am saying that simply reading without actually trying to do the work is not a path that leads to success.

So, I am here. Putting in the work.

Someone might not read this post. But by writing here I’m working on my voice, my point of view, my craft, sharpening my thoughts, my mind and how I think about things. I’m accumulating work. I’m one blog post closer to finding my voice. I’m one post closer to getting the audience I eventually want. And so while it is inconsequential in its current, singular state, it’s important in its contribution to the accumulation of work that will get me to where I want to go.

The point being: if you’re not writing or creating or working then you’re falling behind the people who are out there accumulating work, building their expertise and power. So, I ask you – what are you doing to accumulate work to get the power you’re looking for?

P Morgan Brown

A work in progress

Tag Archives: expertise

Building expertise vs. building knowledge