It's easy to be an expert - agree or not?

Knowing more than someone else does is not what makes an expert. It may allow you to pretend to be an expert to those who have less knowledge but it doesn't make you a real expert. It always bugs me when people say things like this - sounds like it does the same for you, Ron.

Being an expert means you have an enormous amount of knowledge, experience and understanding of a given topic. Expertise is measured by how much you actually know and grasp about something, not how many facts you know compared to someone who doesn't know the topic at all.

The key thing to remember is that you don't need to be an expert to create a product. Faking it just comes back to bite you in the butt because sooner or later, someone will ask you something that you can't answer or they'll somehow catch on to your lack of true expertise. Then your reputation is shot and that's a lot harder to fix than becoming an expert in anything.

becomming an expert takes time and study and experience and nothing less! if you want to claim to be an expert then make sure you are one or you will end up looking foolish!
However, you don't have to be an expert to deliver valuable advice, you just need knowledge! there is a difference!......and the real experts will always sniff you out to be a fake if you say you are one when you're not!

I see people acting like experts all the time when chatting to people that don't know whats going on but if you put those same self-proclaimed experts in a room with real pro's then they will quickly come unstuck.

Yes you can be an expert, at not being an expert.

Ditto what Tina said. There's a difference between being a true expert and a knowledgeable citizen. Some time ago I checked a book out from the library on becoming an expert on anything in 24 hours or less and the first thing it explained was its definition of the word "expert". It also provided some cautions--for instance, don't consider yourself a world-class surgeon just because you finished reading Grey's Anatomy. Basically it all came down to not being averse to research.

Hi Ron,

Generally speaking, you only need to know a little bit more than the people who are looking to you for answers, but that does not make you an expert.

However, there are some exceptions to this.

There are some niches that only require short-term solutions, which have short-term consequences. How to weave baskets would be an example of this kind of niche. These are the types of niches where I think it is okay to be a few steps ahead of your audience. It's also a good idea to keep learning more so you can grow with your audience. True expert status is not as important.

Then there are the niches that require long-term solutions, and/or have long-term consequences. For example, somebody in the debt niche may know that declaring bankruptcy can eliminate most of a person's debt. They give this as advice, but fail to mention that this can mess up the person's credit rating (and ability to get a job or rent an apartment), can cause a strain in their marriage, can destroy their self-esteem, and can have some major tax ramifications. This is the kind of niche where being a real expert is important.

It's important to mention that you should not wait until you're an expert to get started. No matter what the topic, I can guarantee that you will learn a lot as you get into it. My guess is that doing something like, oh, I don't know, "copycat" recipes is the kind of thing where you learn more and more as you go.

Which leads to another point. I don't think anybody can become an expert by just reading about something. True expertise comes from doing.

All the best,
Michael

I consider an expert to be someone with not only real-world experience in their field but an advanced degree as well. I do, however, think it's possible for someone to read enough to become acquainted with a topic that they had no prior knowledge of so that they can write about and make money from it.

Joey

Knowing most than the average doesn't make sure an expert, it just makes you acquainted.

In order to be an expert, you need to know more than someone who's just read a few books.

I think the bigger question is do YOU agree? You seem to be one of the experts here - no?

If you are using conventional definitions of the term 'expert', then all the evidence suggests that considerable effort is required. For instance, this article in Harvard Business Review puts forward evidence that it requires 10 years (10,000 hours) practice/study, at the very least. It also reports that obtaining expertise is becoming more challenging. Here's an excerpt:

In most fields, the bar of performance has risen steadily since that time [nineteenth and early twentieth centuries]. For instance, amateur marathon runners and high school swimmers today frequently better the times of Olympic gold medalists from the early twentieth century. Increasingly stiff competition now makes it almost impossible to beat the ten-year rule. One notable exception, Bobby Fischer, did manage to become a chess grand master in just nine years, but it is likely that he did so by spending more time practicing each year.

You can't become an "expert" just by reading books. You have to actually get EXPERIENCE. Part of becoming an expert is having the mental fortitude of FAILING and trying again and again-learning each time. Being an expert also involves the right attitude of CONSTANT EXPERIMENTATION. Real experts don't just tell you WHAT to do, they also tell you what to expect, HOW to work around issues, and also predict certain contingencies. You don't get that from an ebook.

Also, real experts don't GUARANTEE because results totally depend on the person they are instructing. With that said, if the person coaching you on a certain topic is worth his/her salt, that person will guide you based on your strengths.

The sad truth is that there are all too many "experts" just eager to separate you from your money and leave you with nothing.

It's all relative.

In IM many people consider anyone who knows more than them an expert because they don't know enough to know that they're not, and there are a lot of BS artists around who want to be seen as an expert and can easily baffle anyone who doesn't know much.

I think we all know what being an expert really means but we just don't all agree what that should mean to our actions.

I don't like the word expert. There are many people out there abusing the term. I'd rather gain trust by being honest and up front with people.

It is a relative thing. Not because of what the "expert" knows or can do but by their audience. A dictionary or technical reference to an expert may include terms such as "experienced", "problem solver". But even in advanced technical or scientific areas there can be experts that know little to nothing about the subject where they are considered the expert.
I'm not referring to the huge numbers of football fans that consider themeselves experts when watching the champions league.
Take leading edge physics or science discoveries. The expert may have no explanation for what they are seeing but neither will anyone else. The expert ends up being someone who happens to be one single step ahead of everyone else who is interested or has a need. They are no less the expert because they can't explain something. Perhaps the experts will be apparent by their honesty more than their ability to explain everything that ever comes their way.
In a crowd of very knowledgeable people (such as WF) the experts will be those who genuinely are a step ahead of all the other very knowledgeable people. Being an expert in the IM niche is going to take more than reading a few books.
Oops! I think I just switched from "What is an expert?" to "What is a niche?" Is the IM niche really a niche?

You're an expert when you "officially" launch your first ebook lol...

Before the Net, there was an old saying that said something like, "If you read two books on a subject by different authors, you know more than 99% of the people about the subject and are an expert".

I think it really depends on the topic...

Most people breeze through a niche subject, but few are experts, very few. Yes I can read a book on micro-fractures in the international space station from solar disruptions (making this up), but that only makes me more knowledgeable then someone who has no clue. The experts are the ones that study day after day and devote themselves to that subject.

I think it's easy to be perceived as an expert.

Ron,

This isn't a new idea - and it does depend on the area on which someone claims to have expertise. There's a book by investment guru Jim Slater called the "Zulu Principle" - the idea is simply that anyone can become an expert on any topic - particularly something niche where the information available to everyone else is limited. So if there are only 5 leading books on the Zulus for instance (hence the book title) once you've read them he argues you're an expert.

Though of course this fails to take into account that by reading the book you'll not have read all the extra material that went into making the books. Interesting idea, but limited i'd say in its application!

An expert online?-- Offcourse, like you mentioned that's very easy to accomplish.

An expert offline? -- Not so easy I'm afraid. (No hiding behind the screen)

I agree, I'm considered by most people a looser. But one day I said something in front of people and in 2 minutes I'm an expert for the past decade. The threshold is small that is what people don't get, I was lucky to stumble on it.

If it was that much easy, then everyone would be an expert. It needs a lot of experience & experiments to be an expert.

Only in the IM community can one be regarded as an expert in as little as two weeks. But a true expert will have several months if not years of knowledge and experience in a certain subject

You must be the go to person above the large majority. I'm an expert plasterer with 13 years experience in the field, actually practicing my trade. On many a building site, there are "plastering foremen" who know everything about the trade, but have never actually plastered a wall or ceiling in their lives... they are NOT experts.