Values Quotes – Malcolm Gladwell on Expertise

Todays quote is from Malcolm Gladwell, the English-Canadian journalist and bestselling author of books including The Tipping Point and Blink.

A brilliant quote from Gladwell is:
“Often a sign of expertise is noticing what doesn’t happen.”

What a unique way to look at the value of expertise, as Gladwell is so good at doing.

As a differentiating value, Expertise means skillfulness by virtue of possessing special knowledge.

Most of the time we think of an expert as someone who knows how to solve any problem that might arise within their field of expertise.

For example, think of the plumber who can quickly stop a water leak under your house. Or a math teacher who knows exactly how to help their students learn calculus so that they understand it. And of course, we all appreciate a doctor who can quickly, and correctly, identify what’s causing our pain or illness.

But an even greater sign of expertise is knowing what’s relevant and what’s not, and when something should be occurring when it’s not. As Gladwell points out, being able to recognize when something is missing, when it really should be present, is a sign of true expertise.

So the next time you see someone looking puzzled and proclaiming: “something’s missing” or “why isn’t that happening”, don’t disregard them or treat them as crazy. They might actually possess a certain expertise that will prove to be quite valuable when you need it.

 

Today’s value was selected from the “Knowledge-Skillfulness” category, based on the e-book Developing Your Differentiating Values.