One of the quote I like the most is attributed to Niels Bohr, the Danish physicist and Nobel laureate, that says “An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.”.
The quote encourages a proactive approach to learning. Instead of fearing mistakes, one should view them as essential building blocks for future success. The focus on a “narrow field” implies that true expertise requires deep specialization.
Fake Gurus are everywhere
Differently than what Bohr was saying, when someone is self-proclaimed an “expert”, the general idea is that he/she is recognized as a genius, always successful, never wrong. The truth, my dear readers, is that 99% of the time, they are nothing more than “fake gurus” that, using swindler techniques, organize and manage, in a fraudulent manner, activities to make money and they do not deliver any real value and knowledge.
Without stated or recognizable qualifications, they disseminates ideas and questionable interpretations, trying to influence the communities online and in-person (and let me tell you one “secret” here, just between us: it happened very frequently in the last years against Specifi, for no reason, lack of information, and.. FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out).
These guys, additionally, have a superpower: they deny that they are wrong even in front of the evidence, reminding me the Black Knight in that masterpiece of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975, directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones):
Arthur draws his sword and approaches the Black Knight.
A furious fight now starts lasting about fifteen seconds at which point Arthur delivers a mighty blow which completely severs the Black Knight’s left arm at the shoulder.
Arthur steps back triumphantly.Arthur: Now stand aside worthy adversary.
Black Knight (Glancing at his shoulder): ‘Tis but a scratch.
Arthur: A scratch? Your arm’s off.
Black Knight: No, it isn’t.
Much Ado About “Noth-BIM”: the less they know, the more they talk
This is happening not just in the Foodservice Industry. I’m also involved in buildingSMART (if you are not familiar with this organization, take a look here: https://www.buildingsmart.org/) and Construction Industry in general, and it is always the same well-oiled system: adding tons of obscure acronyms (IFC, IDS, bSDD, GUID, shskfgkfgll, hlgkfd7i… sorry, the last two are just my keyboard crush, they are not real, trust me!!) and hype words in their discussions and speeches to look smarter and pretend to know their stuff, while the reality is that most of the times they never opened Revit or any other BIM software in their life.
The problem here is that these “Fantastic Beasts” have a perfect combination of sounding board and ignorance (/ˈɪɡnər(ə)n(t)s/, noun, lack of knowledge or information) around them, and they always have an easy win.
So pay attention and be prepared. As the American punk rock band the Offspring said in their song Come Out and Play (1994, Epitaph Record, from the album “Smash”, one of my all-time favorites): You gotta keep ‘em separated.
My two final cents
One of my passions has always been the basketball, that I played in a professional team when I was a teenager, so I’m leaving with a real winner that embodies the essence of “being an expert”: “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed” (I desperately hope I don’t need to tell you who MJ is: 6x NBA Champion, 2x Olympic gold medal winner, 1x NCAA National championship winner, 6x NBA Finals MVP, 5x NBA MVP, and a bunch of other hundreds awards.. just go and check it out by yourself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jordan)
So if you’re looking for a “loser” expert, just give me a call. If I recognize I’m not the right loser, I will introduce you to the ones who fail better in my network. I’m not jealous of my friends!
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Stay data-hungry. Stay data-foolish.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Digital Consultant