The "Fallacy of Expertise"

We all have certain experiences, skills, abilities and areas of expertise.

Some are highly developed. Some are little more than basic awareness. They all combine to become our portfolio of capabilities.

Some folks are truly 'experts' in their field, their career, their function, their topic, etc.

The world needs 'experts'. The focus, depth and quality of their efforts and results often provide critical capability, insight, and/or advancement that can add real value to society, organizations, and others.

All this said, 'expertise' can go too far; it can also be a limiter that mitigates the broader value the 'expert' might bring to the world. I call this the "Fallacy of Expertise".

When one focuses solely on their area of 'expertise', depending on it as the essence of their life to the exclusion of all else, it becomes an obstacle to success by failing to recognize the importance of how that expertise relates to the world surrounding it.

For years I was the senior talent management leader for a large, complex, global automotive supplier. Amongst the most complex of this company's work was hypoid gear engineering. This is incredibly specialized, advanced work that when well, done adds meaningful value to a number of power transmission applications and customers. Successful hypoid gear engineers are deeply knowledgeable in physics, mechanics, thermodynamics, chemistry, metallurgy, and a number of similarly complex topics. They are also experts in understanding:

• how these complex parts actually fit with and into other parts and systems
• how their capabilities add value to the overall objective of the component or end product
• and what customers actually expect from the end product (because quite likely very few give a flip about the hypoid gear itself).

Let's change context a bit.

Let's say you are a military service member considering career transition after a long, distinguished career. You've dedicated decades to becoming an expert in your military career field.

Be it infantry, artillery, engineering, aviation, logistics, signal, nuclear propulsion, missile defense, counter-terrorism or any other, you learned everything necessary to be 'expert' in that field.

You learned technical skills, leadership skills, organizational skills, communication patterns, decision-making and a plethora of other cultural expectations related to that field. You built great expertise.

Now comes career transition. The world you are about to embark upon is very different. Most of the people never walked the path you walked. They don't have the same experience. Their expectations are different on many levels.

Leveraging your experience is critical. Attempting to bend the new world to your deep but relatively narrow scope of expertise will not work. You must become skilled at learning how to apply it to the needs, wants, and expectations of the folks who hold the employment opportunities.

SO - What to do?

• Understand what the employer seeks. What are they 'asking' for?
• Assess your expertise versus their 'asks'. Be realistic. Be practical. Be wary of 'forcing' idealistic perspectives that your expertise will be the perfect fit for their need - employers will see right through it.
• Prepare you 'answers' for all the employer's 'asks', using words they'll understand (not MILSPEAK).
• Network with people who understand both the military and civilian work worlds. Get their input. Listen to their perspective. Apply their insights to broaden your appeal.

"Expertise" is only valuable where it is valuable. You don't hire a welder to do brain surgery - or vice versa.

Figure out how your expertise fits into the new work world and how it helps employers achieve their objectives. Learn the language so you can tell your story in a way employers and others can easily understand,

Be well. Keep up the fire!

If you are looking for a coach/advisor, give me a shout. Coaching folks through career transition is what I do.

Props to my friends Herb Thompson and Michael Quinn for sparking the idea to write about this.

Copyright 2020 William E. Kieffer