Expertise is Overrated
There was an interesting article in Wired this week about the advancements in materials regarding the sport of bowling. Apparently the surfaces and balls have evolved to such a degree that there is a concern that the sport is getting too easy. The United State Bowling Congress have decided to start setting restrictions on these advancements to keep the challenge of the sport intact.
While I am not a big bowler, I think this story relates to everyone in the working world regarding our expertise. We spend decades refining our expertise in something so that our value to an organization is worthy of our hopefully increasing salary. With the advancement of technology, however, expertise could be replaced by improved programming and shifting industries. For example, I have heard that the role of actuary is being replaced in many instances by computer programs and other professions that can cover the actuarial responsibilities.
I’m quite worried about this. I’m so worried about this that I’ve built my career up to this point on not being an expert in one field, but knowledgeable in many fields and being an expert on overall strategy with that broad base of knowledge (well, I might not be an expert now, but I’d like to think I’m getting there).
Since I’m getting my MBA, I also relate many things to the educational system I currently find myself in. Many of the required courses I have taken are given because they were once relevant. A perfect example is Operations Management class where we learn how to create the most efficient operations process which is mainly used in manufacturing. How many MBA students from New York will be managing manufacturing facilities? The fact is, these classes are here because these professors are experts in a particular antiquated field, and they’re championing these courses to keep their jobs. It’s survival. I think this is happening to some degree in every industry. Eventually we’ll see the required courses change, and these professors will have find some way to stay relevant even if it doesn’t involve their expertise.
What do you think? As time progresses, will there be a need for real experts, or are the generalists more likely to succeed?
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I think this is an interesting point. How is it, that being specialized has become such a bad thing? Doctors specialize very specific to something like the nose or colon and can have a long lasting career. But since they have not figured out a robot to… clean your colon, that man is safe. but as technology advances almost any job is not safe if that is all you can do. However being a technological renaissance man is hard to pull off, because most businesses I have seen are not interested in hiring someone that knows a lot, but expert in none.
FOr something like website design, there is new tricks of the trade that happen every year, that if you are still charging customers designs you make in Front page, you will lose your job fast, though you may be an expert in that.
Maybe it is okay to specialize, but understanding and learning the newest and greatest tools in your field will help you figure out how to use what you learned with earlier tools.Managing manufacturing is of course very outdated, but what has that evolved to?
I am in an art major right now and if we just sculpted figures out of marble all day we would never cut it in the real world. Not specializing in anything but contemporary trends seems to be what has helped me keep afloat. Now keeping ahead of the curve, is what I need to figure out next!