How To Tell An Expert

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How To Tell An Expert

Often, when you are trying to decide who has or will have mojo, it is important to decide if a person is an expert. But, how do you know? Anyone can call himself an expert. That doesn’t mean he is one. Fortunately, there are some ways that can help you decide. In this post, I will describe some of them for you. Pick and choose the ones you like best.

To begin, consider Wikipedia’s definition of expert. I mention this because it is rigorous and includes criteria for determining expertise, different models of expertise, academic views, and historical views. These may all be of value.
Next, consider the suggestions in a Forbes article by Daniel Newman, “Experts May Have Influence, But What Makes An Expert?” He emphasizes three things to help you decide:

  1. Consider the source: Do not rely on the existence of a publication alone. Look for a reputable publication from a trusted source, for instance CIO or Information Week for technology and Forbes or The Wall Street Journal for business.
  2. Check the facts: There are many fact checking sources that can help. Most well written pieces will link to the source of their research. If you cannot verify the source, then question the author and their content.
  3. Search the Author: There is so much to learn about anyone via search on Google or other platforms. Generally, you can find out if someone’s bio, credentials, or background can be verified. This will allow you to decide if their information is accurate.
Furthermore, to understand expertise, it is important to understand the difference between an expert and a consultant. This link points to an article from differencebetween.com by Olivia. She emphasizes that a consultants sell advice, whereas experts sell expertise. In the context of mojo, what you want is to get expertise. Advice can be good or bad; this isn't what you want. You can’t just accept any old information. You want to be confident that a person knows what he is talking about. Once you have some idea of what an expert is, you can decide if a given person is really an expert. If so, this person has one of the key elements of mojo.

Finally, I want to recommend that you consider what I have posted about experience. In this earlier post, I recommended using Testimonials, Credentials, Test results, Behavioral Interviewing Techniques, Record of Promotion, Publications, and Awards to help decide about a candidate's experience. You can also use these to tell you if a person is an expert. In fact, you may find it even easier to determine an expert from credentials, test results, publications and awards than you can tell about experience. Be careful when using testimonials or behavioral interviewing techniques for this purpose, though. It is easy for you or the person you are talking to to get fooled. My personal favorite tools from among those listed are awards and publications. These can be especially useful for determining expertise as well as experience.

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