How To Become An Expert – #294

Expert: Understanding the Path to Mastery
The Qualities of Being An Expert

In this episode:

• How anyone can become an expert.

• The future of work.

• Improvisation skills, thread management, innovation, ZPD theory.

• Why having expertise and being an expert isn’t necessarily the same thing.

For More of SuperCreativity Podcast By James Taylor

What could a lacemaker have in common with vascular surgeons? A Savile Row tailor with molecular scientists? A fighter pilot with jazz musicians? At first glance, very little. But Professor Roger Kneebone, who has been called the expert on experts, has spent a lifetime finding the connections and recently published these in a new book called Expert: Understanding The Path To Mastery.

In Expert, he combines his own experiences as a doctor with insights from extraordinary people and cutting-edge research to map out the path we're all following - from 'doing time' as an Apprentice, to developing your 'voice' and taking on responsibility as a Journeyman, to finally becoming a Master and passing on your skills. As Kneebone shows, although each outcome is different, the journey is always the same.

Professor Kneebone directs the Imperial College Centre for Engagement and Simulation Science and the Royal College of Music - Imperial College Centre for Performance Science. His first career was as a surgeon, operating on trauma patients in southern Africa. He then changed direction, becoming a general practitioner in southwest England. Now, as an academic at Imperial College London, he researches what experts from different fields can learn from one another. His unorthodox and creative team includes clinicians, computer scientists, musicians, magicians, potters, puppeteers, tailors and fighter pilots. Expert is his first book for a general readership.

Whether you're developing a new career, studying a language, learning a musical instrument or simply becoming the person you want to be, Professor Kneebone’s ground-breaking research and book reveals the path to mastery.

Roger and I discuss how anyone can become an expert, the future of work, improvisation skills, thread management, innovation, ZPD theory, and why having expertise and being an expert aren’t necessarily the same thing.

Artificial Intelligence Generated Transcript
Below is a machine-generated transcript and therefore the transcript may contain errors.

James Taylor  

I'm James Taylor, and you're listening to the SuperCreativity podcast, a show dedicated to inspiring creative minds like yours.

What could lacemaker have in common with vascular surgeons? A Savile Row tailor with molecular scientists, a fighter pilot with jazz musicians, at first glance very little. But Professor Roger kneebone, who has been called the expert on experts, has spent a lifetime finding the connections, and recently published these in a new book called expert understanding the path to mastery. In expert, he combines his own experiences a doctor, with insights from extraordinary people cutting edge research. to map out the math we're all following, from doing time as an apprentice to developing your voice and taking on responsibility as a journeyman to finally becoming a master and passing on your skills as Kneebone shows. Although each outcome is different, the journey is always the same. Professor Kneebone directs the Imperial College Center for engagement in simulation science and the Royal College of Music, Imperial College Center for performance science. His first career was as a surgeon operating on trauma patients in southern Africa. He then changed direction becoming a general practitioner in southwest England. Now as an academic at Imperial College London. He researches what experts from different fields can learn from one another. His unorthodox and creative team includes clinicians, computer scientists, musicians, magicians, Potter's poverty as tailors, and fighter pilots. expert is his first book for a general readership. Whether you're developing a new career, studying a language, learning a musical instrument, or simply becoming the person you want to be, Professor Kneebone groundbreaking research and book reveals the path to mastery. Roger and I discuss how anyone can become an expert, the future of work, improvisation skills for Threat Management, innovation, Zed PD theory and why having expertise and being an expert aren't necessarily the same thing. So Professor Ragini, thank you so much for coming in joining us today, you've been called the expert on experts. How'd you feel about that term? And in this time that we're living through just now can experts felt like they went out of fashion, but they seem to be coming back into fashion at the moment?

Anyone Can Become An Expert

Roger Kneebone  

Yes, well, first, and first of all, well, thank you for inviting me onto onto the program. I do feel very uncomfortable at this idea of being have been called an expert, about anything really. And I suppose that brings into question that the whole idea of what it means to be expert, which is what this book is all about. I think I think experts have had a kind of a bad press recently, and there's been a sort of, there's been a sort of movement of almost mistrust, or, or sort of feeling that experts aren't really necessary, which I think is very, I think it's very dangerous. And one of the things I've tried to explore in my book is, is what it means to be expert and why I think we might think experts are so important. And I mean, one of the reasons is, is an obvious one, I suppose, which is that we we all need experts for the things that we need to have done, that we can't do ourselves. And it might be we need an operation, we need an expert surgeon to do it if we need to fly somewhere in the days when we used to fly to places. And I'm sure we will again once the once the current pandemic has changed. But we need expert pilots to fly us around when a central heating system blows up or something we need. We need expert people who can help us with things that we can't do. And these days, particularly, I think we need experts to help us navigate these very uncertain times that we're in with the pandemic and all the other things that are going on around us at the moment. But there's another reason we need to understand what being expert means I think and that is that we are all of us, I think somewhere on a on a path towards becoming experts. And we may not be terribly far along if we've only just started for instance, I don't know learning a new language or taking up a hobby or sport or something like that we may be right at the at the early stages. And in other in other parts of our lives, you might be much further on in a professional job, whatever it might be, but we are always somewhere on a pathway that leads to becoming more expert. And we can do In the minutes about what is

James Taylor  

in the book, I mean, you make it interesting because you're, in some ways I feel your natural categorizer, you're very good at being able to, like, take us through in a very logical way and associate your teaching background, as well. But one thing you see in the book is you can have expert just having expertise doesn't necessarily make you an expert,

Roger Kneebone   

is a correct. So I think this I think this is a an important distinction to make, because people talk a lot about expertise. But to me, the, the central thing is that people have become expert, they do have knowledge and skills, and particular aspects of their of their work, let's say that you could, that you could consider as instances of expertise. But there's something more than that by going through that, that going along that pathway, it's taken them a very long time. they've encountered experiences, they've, they've got things wrong, they've had to put them right, they've had to deal with all sorts of things, which have led to them accumulating wisdom. And I think it's this word wisdom that really, to me, captures what what becoming expert is all about. Because it isn't just about the things that you can do with your hands or the facts, you know, or that or isolated elements, it's how you put it all together. And you make sense of that world that you've chosen to spend a lot of time developing in. And in those latest stages, I think you also start to, to have a wider sense of what what that that area that you've spent a lot of time in is about and how you can encourage other people who are also interested in pursuing the same, the same line. And so there's something about becoming expert that there's a purely descriptive account of stages doesn't really capture because what's important, I think, is the inside story of, of what goes on inside somebody, it's essentially it's a human process. It's not, it's not a collection of things that you can abstract. And say, here are components of expertise, it's an integrated thing that that happens to people as they as they develop.

James Taylor  

Now, on that wisdom, you mentioned the book, your background is in surgery. And so one things I liked about the book is you have these these stories from from tailors, from surgeons, from musicians from magicians. And, you know, one of the things I think you mentioned in the book was, for example, a surgeon were, you know, at