Global Best Selling Author & Speaker | Revolutionising Workplace Wellbeing With JAAQ & Bupa ??
How can you tell the difference between pseudo-experts and real expertise? Time for the limousine test! There are more ‘experts’ then ever on social media. But are they causing more harm then good? As we know, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. We all know the 'Founders' giving start up/leadership advice when they’ve never launched a product. Or well meaning people passing lived experience off as expertise (both helpful, but very different). These ‘experts’ sound smart and have learned how to masquerade as an authority (some may be real for sure). They might have 'chauffeur knowledge'. Max Planck's (Nobel prize winner) chauffeur memorised his quantum mechanics lecture, even fooling a professor. But when asked a tough question, he was stumped. Real knowledge is deep understanding. It's Planck, not the chauffeur. Real knowledge comes when people?do the work. Rather than learning the structure to a winning Linkedin post. Chauffeurs have learned how to memorise a few sound bites and seem credible. But dig beneath the surface with 1 or 2 questions and you’ll soon see the level of knowledge. Don't be fooled by fancy titles, hooky posts or pointless jargon - titles like Chief Impact Officer ?? Look for those who've done the work and can explain things clearly. How can you tell the difference? *I realise that it is quite hilarious that I learned about this in Shane Parrish's excellent newsletter and have changed the words a bit and applied to social media. So, in this case I am the chauffeur ??
Great story :) The moral of which is more than you said though, I think. First of all, you need to care and be present if you are choosing speakers, not just following what other people are doing or filling a gap in your wellbeing schedule. Second you need to be confident enough to ask a question and care enough about the answer to be thinking ahead and applying to your own context. I really feel we don’t tell the difference because we don’t care, or actually we are kinda fine with people that “perform.” To be honest I think that is valid. Sometimes the best people at presenting a certain level of information are not the people that know the most but the people that communicate it best. Someone’s experience, is extremely valuable if it is broad enough - and that experience could be more important than being able to quote or even having done studies. Studies and research will not always tell you what you need to know. Years of experience in a job or life experience may do.
True! The car will be outside at 4pm Mr. Hopkins ??????
The No 1 problem with social media….
Great point Ryan Hopkins, I notice this a lot in the mental health / psychology space.
The thing I struggle with the most in my efforts to share ‘expert’ knowledge goes beyond the issue of finding the credible amongst non-credible… it’s also knowing which expert to believe over another. Even the credible experts seem to have different views so it is a minefield. The better we become at doing our own research and taking a view based on our own view of the credibility of the expert over time, the better the chances of consuming the right information! ??
Credibility is really important. Only advice that comes from experience should be considered if you're following resources on the internet.
This bit.. "well meaning people passing lived experience off as expertise" Love the limousine test.. You've inspired me to make a whole podcast about this Ryan.. I'm going to share your video in the show notes.
Totally agree - I have seen this over the years particularly on LinkedIn where people have had a few viral posts and then suddenly they are getting booked for talks to share their story but without any actual credibility or qualifications to back up the strategies they are suggesting people should follow.
Helping busy leaders sleep better, stress less and take control | Psychologist & Psychotherapist
3 周A doctor posted an authentic sounding post on magnesium for sleep, which was simply inaccurate. He may be a doctor but this clearly isn't his specialism and he relied on some awful dats. When I challenged it his reply was lame, to say the least, and he relied on a generic 'response'. His comment was liked by 5 randoms, my response by just 1 - one of the leading sleep experts in the country. I'll leave it there.