Is expertise really the goal?
Happy Friday!
Dave’s Whiteboard blog had a great post this week on power versus powered users. He argues that most users are looking to be powered, versus power users. Here’s a great diagram he used to make the distinction.
I had a couple of conversations with subject matter experts this week that really made made this post resonate with me:
- “I tell new employees that if they’ve done it once, then they’re the expert.” Jobs change so quickly sometimes that learning the technique isn’t worth the person’s time….getting it done is enough.
- “We have so much to do, there’s not time to become an expert.” Employees are asked to do more and more; being a power user is almost a luxury that they can’t afford.
The implication for those of us designing learning is to 1)know our audience and 2) discourage SMEs from adding details to a course that the learner doesn’t want or need. What do you think – How do you distinguish between a power and powered user in your organization?
Tags: expertise, power user, SMEs
December 5th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Jennifer, I’m glad you found value in the post.
Power versus powered isn’t a dichotomy, of course — they’re really part of a spectrum of capability, I think.
Most people like doing what they do well. Power users do lots of stuff well — and so, as experts, they can lose sight of the complex steps that got them to their level of mastery. They can also forget how opaque a given problem can look to someone with less experience.
Also, people become powered users mostly on their own schedule. As they do, competence feeds confidence, and they may seek a little more power. In the end, though, I think that for most, it’s about doing a good job, rather than mastering all the technical stuff they can.