u/jessi387 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
How does one identify an actual expert ?
u/michaelnovati replied ·
Good question and a bit of a meta question - giving guidance in identifying experts means you need an expert in that skill to give guidance :D
There isn't an objective definition of expert, but over the years the people I consider true industry experts have these traits in common:
1. They limit their expertise to areas they are actually experts in and not every topic under the sun. Dan Abramov is a good example of this... very direct about what he knows and doesn't know about React.
2. They have extensive industry experience - meaning a combination of **TIME** (5 to 10+ years in a given focus area) AND their experience was in some kind of not-common way that give the person **insights** another person might not have. Dan Abramov again for example, he didn't start React but he was involved on the internals for a long time and co-founded Redux from that. Whereas some random bootcamp grad that wants to make a framework for React won't have that expertise to be able to do so.
3. They often have lots of caveats and nuances in their advice. An expert might make suggestions that don't academically sound correct, but they are applying their "expertise" in making those assessments for a specific situation that someone without that expertise would never make.
Number 2 can really help narrow this down a ton right off the bat:
\-you can rule out a lot of people with minimal experience even if that experience sounds impressive, without the time, even 24/7 focus can't develop the expertise needed in a short period of time.
\- you can develop expertise faster or slower through ambition, will, and raw smarts, but you need to have the right kind of experience. If you want to be an expert in something, you have to have worked on the core of that thing. Otherwise you are a critic or commentator at best.