Expertise is Overrated

There was an interesting article in Wired this week about the advancements in materials regarding the sport of bowling. Apparently the surfaces and balls have evolved to such a degree that there is a concern that the sport is getting too easy. The United State Bowling Congress have decided to start setting restrictions on these advancements to keep the challenge of the sport intact.

While I am not a big bowler, I think this story relates to everyone in the working world regarding our expertise. We spend decades refining our expertise in something so that our value to an organization is worthy of our hopefully increasing salary. With the advancement of technology, however, expertise could be replaced by improved programming and shifting industries. For example, I have heard that the role of actuary is being replaced in many instances by computer programs and other professions that can cover the actuarial responsibilities.

I’m quite worried about this. I’m so worried about this that I’ve built my career up to this point on not being an expert in one field, but knowledgeable in many fields and being an expert on overall strategy with that broad base of knowledge (well, I might not be an expert now, but I’d like to think I’m getting there).

Since I’m getting my MBA, I also relate many things to the educational system I currently find myself in. Many of the required courses I have taken are given because they were once relevant. A perfect example is Operations Management class where we learn how to create the most efficient operations process which is mainly used in manufacturing. How many MBA students from New York will be managing manufacturing facilities? The fact is, these classes are here because these professors are experts in a particular antiquated field, and they’re championing these courses to keep their jobs. It’s survival. I think this is happening to some degree in every industry. Eventually we’ll see the required courses change, and these professors will have find some way to stay relevant even if it doesn’t involve their expertise.

What do you think? As time progresses, will there be a need for real experts, or are the generalists more likely to succeed?

Out of Work? Go Back to 4th Grade

The Herald Tribune wrote an interesting article about how certain schools are experimenting with providing incentives to students who do well. These incentives range from providing actual money to the option of breaking the dress code and wearing denim. I’m not sure how I feel about this. In a Management Psychology class I took this past semester (I’m getting my MBA) I learned how important it is to praise someone when they do something well. I remember during my elementary school days, the teachers used to reward us with gold stars and a daily grade (which I’m fairly certain meant nothing). Every teacher had their own style of praise but I didn’t find any of them too effective.

As I think about it now, the problem was that people who weren’t praised developed apathy towards the whole praising process. Those kids (myself being one of them) accepted the fact that they wouldn’t be one of the kids with all the gold stars. If anything, the opposite of the desired effect occurred. The underachievers would be the majority and, out of defensiveness, would make fun of the overachievers. Thus, to be cool, you had to not try. As we can see, the old system isn’t ideal. But is this new solution better?

I think giving money or products to kids doesn’t make much sense. Most schools have students that come from all different classes of wealth. The poor kids could work so hard to earn money and buy something they want. Some rich kids could just ask their parents for it and they’d get it. The desire to work would be based on how easily you have access to what you want. Some parents are just bad and would give their kid anything they ask for. The idea of earning something school related sounds interesting. The ability to break the dress code or be first in line at lunch is something parents can’t buy their child. Further study needs to be done on this topic. I wouldn’t be surprised if the positive or negative results of some of these programs is directly correlated to how much parents agree with the program. Either way, it’s nice to see schools trying to innovate in education.

That A in Penmanship Really Helped

Back in junior high school I had to write all my essays in script. For those who don’t remember (or aren’t old enough to know about this), script was the preferred method of writing for education institutions a while back. I hated script. Mainly because I wrote faster in print. The whole point of script was that you could write quicker. That was the upside, no? But it didn’t work for me. I wrote better in print (did I mention the A in penmanship?). And yet, up to the 7th grade, I was forced to write all my essays in this horrible form of wavy-lined expression. I still have no idea how teachers graded papers. Other people’s script is illegible.

Why do I bring this up? I just finished my first year of getting my MBA. For my finals, I had to write over a dozen essays in a short period of time in these little blue essay books. Besides the fact that my hand felt like it was going to fall off after each round of essays, I noticed that my handwriting is much worse than as it used to be. This is, I think, because I don’t write anymore. Who writes? I type everything. The most I write in a given week is when I’m traveling somewhere new and am copying directions from Google Maps.

So here is my theory. Writing, with a pen and paper will be as unpopular in the future as writing script is today. Currently, the average person only uses script when they’re signing their name (except for those few who use it to write birthday cards…just to let you know, we never understand what you’re writing about). Writing in general will dissappear. All school notes, memoirs, and even birthday cards will be typed and the art of penmanship will die out like HD DVD.