Would you rather have expertise or mastery?
What's the difference??Experts tend to be deep specialists. They zero in on a specific niche and focus on becoming really good at it.?It's about depth of experience.?Those who develop mastery, on the other hand, have both breadth and depth of experience.??
Both create great value for an organization, and depending on the type of industry you're in, you probably need one more than the other.?If your industry is highly technical, or if you handle technical products or work for a larger organization that is highly segmented, then it would make sense to develop more of a "vertical expertise" to carve a niche for yourself.?The idea is to become the go-to guy for a specific goal the business wants to achieve, or a specific problem it wants to solve, or an urgent need to fill.
If you're trying to do something new or disruptive or innovative -- of if your industry itself is facing disruption or rapid transformation -- then mastery offers far greater versatility and opportunity to move up the value chain.?For a simple reason: jobs are changing so fast that you can be an expert today, but easily become obsolete tomorrow.?Whereas experts put all their eggs in one basket, masters understand the value of spreading risk and broadening their horizons.
Depth and breadth of experience are also necessary for small-to-big-picture thinking, or the ability to zoom in and zoom out between the small and big picture.?This is often cited as a key trait leaders must have today and in the future.?That is, you need to be able to zoom in on a specific goal, problem or need that the business urgently needs to address or take action on, while simultaneously zooming out to see the longer-term consequences of such decisions.???
Vince Wan, (name withheld on request), a product specialist based in Hong Kong, compares the ability to zoom in and out to a common activity, driving:
"It's like driving a car. You need to pay attention to what's directly in front of you, and have the quick reflexes to maneuver around the little bumps and pot holes on the road.?But at the same time, you also need to keep an eye on the horizon, see road signs and traffic conditions further down the road, and anticipate any detours or alternate routes that can get you faster and more safely to your destination."
The rise of ESG (Environment, Sustainability, Governance) as a key CEO agenda is one example of the importance of small-to-big-picture thinking and the need to broaden one's horizons.?
"Before, it was all about 'how do we get this done as quickly and as efficiently as possible?'?Today, CEOs must also see the larger impact of those decisions on the society and the environment. There is intrinsic business value in ESG and today ESG encompasses every step of the supply chain, so you need to be able to connect the dots" Wan says.
Hence, even if you're in a highly specialized role with a deep level of expertise, you still need to broaden your experience outside of your comfort zone to allow you to see the bigger picture and connect the dots.
Wan adds: "Technology has made the world much much smaller than it was twenty years ago, and trends such as ESG are simply telling us the obvious: We're all in this together and everything we do are interconnected."
In our next article, we'll delve deeper into how to develop or improve your ability to connect the dots and master big-picture thinking to create greater value for the customers you serve.
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