November 23, 2020

The expert’s trap

Teaching a child

When an expert tackles a problem, they have many advantages, and also some disadvantages.

“In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities. In the expert’s mind, there are few.”
Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki

As we learn more about a topic, we lose a beginner’s perspective and their access to solutions we can’t imagine because our expertise makes us selectively blind. Assumptions become hard-wired into our expert selves, and we don’t notice what they do to our thinking.

The truth is that sometimes we don’t look where we should look, we don’t ask the questions we should ask, and we don’t try what we should try, because our assumptions mean we think it’s pointless to do so.

Are you struggling with a problem?

Adopt a beginner’s mindset.

Find a beginner and explain the problem to them.

You will have to explain the problem in a different way to how you think about it, which will provide new avenues to explore.

They will ask questions which might seem stupid given your hard-wired assumptions, but what can those questions reveal about your blind spot?

Escape the expert’s trap.

My best wishes, Paul

Paul Matthews

CEO and Founder of People Alchemy

share this article:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

related posts

Your guide to adopting a learning transfer mindset

Like many terms, the phrase ‘learning transfer’ seems to mean different things to different people. Paul says “Every definition I ...
Read More
L&D Free Spirits podcast cover

How do you build a freelance business that runs itself?!

In this new podcast episode Paul chats with Mark Gilroy from L&D Free Spirits about his journey from IT sales ...
Read More
Somebody working on a laptop

Measuring the Right Metrics for Your Stakeholders

New article from Paul Matthews on Training Industry offers a strategic approach to measurement that goes beyond compliance and focuses on ...
Read More
Survival kit laid out on frosty ground

The ultimate management survival tip

I saw a blog which asked, “What is your ultimate management survival tip?” What would you say if asked that ...
Read More

search blog

Get your free weekly tip

You agree that we can keep a record of your details, and send you other occasional offers. See our Privacy Policy