Needle, Meet Haystack

Long-time readers may recognize my affinity for nerdier pursuits, like sci-fi, alternate universe theories and comic books (especially those of the billionaire hero variety).  In fact, I’ve made numerous posts using the example of one of my all-time favorites, Batman (see here, here and here).  But despite my love for the character, I am by no means The Internet’s Foremost Batmanologist, an honor which belongs to Prof. Chris Sims of the Invincible Super-Blog.  In a recent post in his weekly “Ask Chris” column at Comics Alliance, Professor Sims was discussing the divide (or lack thereof) between Bruce Wayne and Batman:

“Batman is consistently shown as being a man who does everything in his power to stop crime at every level. One of the common arguments that people often go to in order to dismiss Batman as a character is that dressing up in a costume and beating up the mentally ill doesn’t do a whole lot to effect real change, but as Bruce Wayne, that’s exactly what he does. As a billionaire philanthropist, he creates charities, employs reformed convicts, gives misguided people second chances and donates a massive high-tech crime lab to the GCPD free of charge, and as a super-hero, he stops muggings, murders and the literal destruction of the city. In both aspects, he’s devoted to fighting crime, but he doesn’t go about it one way or another.

“In other words, it’s Batman who punches out the abusive pimp, but it’s Bruce Wayne who gives the girl a way to find a better life.”

Although the argument is in reference to the mental condition and effectiveness of a fictional gentleman who dresses up as a flying rodent to punch psychotic clowns and other evil-doers in the face, Sims makes an alarmingly insightful point not just about Batman, but about consistency of action and character.  He continues to make a similar point regarding Superman as well:

“Superman doesn’t really need a job — it’s not like he’s got rent to pay on the Fortress of Solitude — but assuming that he wants to have a secret identity and not be Superman all the time, Clark Kent could do quite literally anything for a living… [he] becomes a reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper, meaning that his actual day job is to seek out truth and expose the guilty to justice, in a way so American that they put it in the First Amendment. In essence, Clark Kent and Superman both stand for the same things, just like Batman and Bruce Wayne both battle against crime in specific ways. Same person, same goals, but a wide range of methods.”

One could argue that this tracks back to an old metaphor about cats and methods of removing their skin.*  But it goes beyond simple problem solving, to touch on another issue entirely: effectiveness and scope.

When it comes to your career, there are literally hundreds of tiny permutations that separate your job skills and responsibilities from those at a competing company.  When it comes to your education, there are many different paths that your knowledge could take that make what you learn at one school distinct from what you might learn at a different institution, or even with a different professor.

Once you’ve obtained enough knowledge to be proficient in your field of choice, you have two options: keep learning or stop learning.  If you choose to stop learning, you will rely more on experience and previous cases to solve problems.  But if you keep learning, you will always discover alternate methods to improve your performance, and will eventually come to the realization that you need to expand laterally.

If you’re a programmer for your day job, you might spend some of your off time building up your skills in other languages, which will not only make you a greater asset professionally, but will give you more freedom privately, and could create future job opportunities down the line.  If you spend your days as a recruiter, you could also work with unemployed people, buffering their resumes and helping them to improve their employability.  Some doctors work at clinics or work as consultants in their off time.  But regardless of one’s career and extracurriculars, the fact remains the same: expanding your knowledge and skills can only be a greater benefit to you.

Of course, this isn’t to say that everything you do needs to have a 1-to-1 correlation.  For example, if your goal is to create your own marketing firm, and you spend your 9-5 time working at another marketing firm, you could spend your off time developing other necessary business competencies, like learning accounting or developing your leadership skills (which you could do via online games).

Regardless of if you’re out to fight crime and injustice or if you’re just looking for a promotion, there are plenty of ways to achieve your goal.  Just think like Batman and Superman, and don’t keep yourself confined to one method.

*Apologies to any cat-lovers out there.

“Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth’s surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so.” – Bertrand Russell

A few years ago, my former roommate’s evil, shrill harpy of a (thankfully now ex-) girlfriend was complaining about her mom and step-dad’s latest attempt at saving their marriage.  Despite multiple infidelities from both parties, constant fighting and arguments, and a seeming mutual hatred for each other, they had decided to see a couples therapist.

“For $200 an hour, he has them use puppets to act out disagreements, scream into pillows, write in journals and dance awkwardly,” the horrible, vicious shrew said.  ”My mom says that she’s not sure how much it’s helping, but at least they’re having sex again.  And that’s not even the worst part; the therapist is in his 50s and has never been married!  He says that give him an ‘outsider’s perspective,’ but it sounds to me like he’s full of it.”

My ex-roommate took a swig of beer.  ”Andrew got a minor in psychology, maybe he could do the same stuff for $50 an hour.  He’s never been married either.”

The fact that this man was paid enough money to perform a task using only second-hand and vicariously-obtained information rather than personal experience made me wonder what would happen if this kind of thinking was applied to other fields.  Might we have:

• NFL players whose experience consisted of being good at the latest version of a Madden game?
• Lawyers who studied episodes of Law & Order, The Practice, Damages, or any of the shows mentioned on this list rather than going to law school and taking the bar?
• Doctors skipped medical school, but are really, really good at “Operation”?

It seems highly unlikely that any of us would risk our office betting pool, our legal battles or our very lives to people without the proper experience and accreditations, so why should some fields be exempt?

Perhaps it’s the perception and qualifications that we deem necessary for any given profession.  The difference between a fry cook at a fast food joint and a head chef in a four-star restaurant is skill, technique and years of experience.  The difference between a professional architect and some schlub messing around with AutoCAD is training and a proven track record of properties.  The difference between a film critic and a person with a blog is…um, let me get back to you on that one.

But it does seem that certain persuasions require strong personal experience more than others.  For brokers, it’s their personal investment portfolios.  For mechanics, it’s the cars that they drive.  For web designers, it’s their personal sites.  So giving others a free pass when they’re missing this step seems not only irresponsible, but incomprehensible, too.

Our lives require that we interact with others to a utilitarian degree for any number of reasons, and we judge their utility based upon what past experiences they have that might qualify them to do the work for us now.  We look for these objective markers to help make the decisions that logic and intuition alone can’t help us with.  We look to experience and history as a tool for judging someone’s credentials not because we want to, but because we need to.

So when is a doctorate as useful as an undergraduate minor?  When everything else is the same.

What if I told you that I could make you an expert in less time than it takes to cook some TV dinners?

What would you do if you could attain guru status in any subject before you even finish reading this post?

Would you use it to bolster your reputation with your peers?  Would you use it to enhance your personal brand?  Would you climb onto your roof and shout, “I AM A GENIUS!” for all the world to hear?

Well, you can do whatever you’d like, because all it takes to transform anybody from an average schlub to a knowledge adept is two things: The 10% Rule and the economic principle of scarcity.

The 10% Rule has been covered in this blog before, but it boils down to this: you only need to know 10% more than your audience to be a knowledgeable source.  Easy enough, right?  But how can you use it to your advantage?

Enter scarcity.  Here’s an example:

The World Cup is going on right now.  There are millions of people all over the globe watching it.  But soccer/football/fútbol isn’t quite as popular in the USA.  In fact, no one in my office is watching the World Cup.  Except for me.

I check scores, watch highlights and read game overviews online.  This takes up maybe three minutes of my day.  I don’t know too much about the specifics (I’ve only watched a few games, and those were all when I was on vacation a few weeks ago) and I hardly remember the names of most of the players, but I still have some knowledge of the events that are going on.

As a result, I have a tremendous knowledge lead over my co-workers.  So even though I might be lacking in knowledge depth compared to an avid World Cup viewer, I’m still more educated on it than anyone in my office.  After all, it’s more than zero.  And that’s why, whenever someone’s curious about how the different countries’ teams are doing, they ask me.

This is where scarcity comes into play.  The fewer people with knowledge on the subject, the more powerful even remedial information is.  If there was another person in the office who was also watching the World Cup, my expertise would diminish.  In fact, they might have more information than I do, making them seem like the expert, and putting me at more of an “enthusiast” position.

So to truly become an expert in as little time as possible, you need to find a knowledge gap that your audience has and then exploit it with the information that you have on the subject.  Even if it’s just browsing through the article on Wikipedia, having any information puts you a leg up over everyone else.  If you know where there’s a dearth of information in peoples’ minds, you can use it to your advantage.

This sounds suspiciously like being an early adopter, doesn’t it?

That does make sense, though.  The people who are the first to try something have the most time to get familiar with it, investigate it, and learn about it.  Whether it’s business blogging or using the new iPhone, the people who have seniority and history will at least seem to be experts compared to those who join up later.

So if you want to become an expert in a flash, find a subject in which the knowledge of your audience is scarce, then gain at least a 10% knowledge advantage over them.  You can even get it done while you’re finishing a sandwich!

Just don’t take the World Cup.  That one’s mine.

What’s so bad about being an expert?

No, seriously, I want to know.  Because it seems like everyone under the sun and inside the blogosphere is getting all pissy that some people are experts, or as we say on the Intertubes, “self-proclaimed experts.”  Why all the backlash against the folks who are being all expertly?

Provided that someone can meet the criteria necessary to be considered an expert, they are in fact an expert.  And if you want to get all dictionary-quoting on me, here’s what the definition of expert is (minus military and secondary adjective meanings):

1. a person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field; specialist; authority: a language expert.

2. possessing special skill or knowledge; trained by practice; skillful or skilled (often fol. by in or at): an expert driver; to be expert at driving a car.

So really, as long as you’re smarter than the average bear in a chosen field, you’re an expert.  Nothing about proficiency tests, levels of savvy or degrees of competence.  So why the anger?

I understand the anger regarding self-proclaimed SEO and SMO experts – these are emerging technologies that we still don’t fully understand how to utilize to their fullest potential.  And I kind of get the ALL CAPS KANYE WEST OUTRAGE that can come from most any Internet debate – it’s pretty much a fact of life by now.  But what I absolutely do not agree with is when someone questions whether an authority (be it a blogger established in a niche, someone called upon specifically for their expertise or a similar individual) is actually a viable source.

Do they know more about the topic than you do?  Are they paring it down for mass consumption in a way that works?  Do they actually have evidence to back up their claims?  If the answer to all three of those is “yes,” then you can shut up now, Internet.  That person is an expert.

I have over 200 posts on this blog about employment and corporate culture.  The information is based on personal research and the experiences of myself and friends.  While I might not be as much of an expert as Rich, I’m still an expert.  Why?  Because people look to me as a source of factual information.

We are all experts on different things – our hobbies, our professions, and even our lives.  To discount that someone may be a greater resource on a topic than you are is really pleading ignorance and inhibiting intellectual growth.  So even if you don’t agree with what an expert says, it’s not a necessary indicator of whether or not their point is valid.

Then again, that’s just my expert opinion.

As lame as he might seem compared to the rest of the Justice League (even Batman, who doesn’t have any powers), Aquaman still has some pretty kick-ass abilities – he can talk to fish, swim (and presumably “swim” in space) with amazing speed and agility, and he’s really strong.  And since 70% of the world is covered in water, as the King of Atlantis (oh yeah, Aquaman is a king too) he rules most of the planet.  So really, all the air-breathers should be giving him a lot more respect.

But Aquaman and his powers aren’t real.

Sure, there are some super powers that seem to be developing in people these days and some that we will soon get from science, but neither of these options pertain to the super powers that everyday people like you and me have.  Don’t think you have any super powers?  Well, what about:

Technology Comprehension – Sure, some people might call you a geek, but they’re not tech-savvy enough to figure out what’s really going on.  When faced with a new program or piece of hardware, can you quickly acclimate yourself to how it’s used, the complete suite of functions, and how to best utilize it?

Why it’s a super power: Think about all those statistics you hear about left-handed people killing themselves with products made for righties.  And I’m sure a small fraction of that number is just can openers.

Confidence and Fearlessness: The number one fear of people in the US is public speaking.  Do you love getting on stage and wowing the crowds?  Or to take it a step further, do you thrive on adrenaline by going skydiving, doing extreme sports or taking on challenges that most people would shrink away from?

Why it’s a super power: Daredevil is called “the man without fear.”  And considering his only other power is that he’s a blind man who can see, I think that comic books would agree with me on this one.

Charm and Networking Skills: I’m not referring to small-talk here; this is James Bond-level, charm-the-pants-off-anyone skill right here.  You can make a connection with almost anyone you meet, adding them to an impressive list of social contacts who would bend over backwards to help you.

Why it’s a super power: Not everyone is charismatic or charming enough to be liked by everyone.  It’s hard enough to make a few friends –  the sheer force of will and confidence that one must have to get along well (and connect) with so many people is superhuman.

Trend Prediction: In the first chapter of his insanely popular book, The Tipping Point, super-author Malcom Gladwell discusses people who have the ability to create and develop widespread trends.  If you’re on the cusp of a new fad with music, fashion, technology or slang at an amazing frequency, you can practically see the future.

Why it’s a super power: Predicting social trends is a very difficult thing to do – companies spend untold millions on attempting to do just that.  Having your finger on the pulse of modern culture is a daunting task that few can execute well.

Empathy: You lock on to people’s emotions, and connect with them easily.  Instead of being oblivious to the feelings of others, you commiserate with them and help forge better relationships.  Kind of the opposite of some of the Twilight vampires.

Why it’s a super power: Wikipedia says so.

Of course, these are not the only super powers that are possible for someone to have.  And each of these skills can be utilized in many different ways, both personally and professionally.  What you need to remember is that your super power should complement your career choice, so you are using your abilities to the fullest.

If Aquaman can do it, so can you.

There’s been much to do lately about what qualifies someone to be an expert.  Whether it’s discussions on Brazen Careerist, a quick how-to guide in a New York Times bestseller or past posts on this very blog, expertise seems to be something that’s a bit tricky to define and explain.  Many people proclaim themselves to be experts, but not as many are.  Unless they happen to have “M.D.” after their names, or “Professor” before them.

Believe it or not, I’ve been called an expert in many areas that I personally thought that I had no business being an expert in.  I helped to teach dating classes when my love life was at an all-time low (though they went surprisingly well).  I made presentations to clients on topics that I only had a rudimentary knowledge of (thanks, Wikipedia!).  And then there’s the time my friend Ben asked me to cut his hair because I had at one point worked at a hair salon (as a receptionist, hence the problem).

The issue with expertise is much like the problem with art.  How do you define someone as an artist?  I was once taught that there were three criteria that should be used as a base for defining an artist:

1. Has the person self-identified as an artist?
2. Do others agree that this person is an artist?
3. Does their art stand the test of time?

You must have the answer of “yes” to all three of these questions to be deemed an artist who has produced real art.  It’s how we can distinguish the professionals from the amateurs.  It’s what makes the Mona Lisa a fixture in the Louvre and your preschool drawings a fixture in the box in your parents’ attic.  So I propose a similar set of criteria for experts that must all be fulfilled completely in the positive in order to prove their expert-ness:

1. Has the person self-identified as an expert?
2. Do others agree that this person is an expert?
3. Does the content that they produce give reliable and valid results that stand the test of time?

So if you proclaim yourself, say, a social media expert, you will not only have to have others agree that you have expertise in social media, but will also be able to produce real, calculable information and results that prove your expertise is correct (higher click-through rates, a certain number of active followers, a high ROI, etc).  Those who cannot fulfill all three areas are not experts.

So in conclusion: Tony Robbins?  Expert.  Doctors?  Experts.  The guy who hangs out by the bus stop yelling obscenities into his shoe?  Not an expert.

The next time someone tells you that they are an expert, check their credentials, what others say about them, and whether what they offer is valid and reliable.  You might end up being more of an expert than they are!

If you’re on Brazen Careerist (which you should be) and read this post and scanned the comments section, you may have seen my comment where I mentioned something I call “Guru Fatigue.”  So now I’m going to give you a little more detail about what that is and how you can combat it.

Guru Fatigue is not what happens when you’ve sat through repeated showings of Ghandi (which is quite good, by the way) or Mike Meyers’ The Love Guru (which is quite horrible, by the way), but is instead what happens when you exhaust yourself on the teachings of a particular person.

A guru can be anyone with an opinion you value.  Many modern gurus that my friends and I have learned from in the past include Neil Strauss, Tim Ferriss, Robert Greene, Penelope Trunk, Guy Kawasaki, Warren Buffett, George Parker, Anthony Bourdain and many others (even Tucker Max – sigh).  But the problem is that no matter who is talking, what they’re talking about, how much you enjoy what they have to say, or even why you’re reading – you will get bored.

It’s an unfortunate inevitability of life – people can only take so much of something before they’ve had enough.  And there will come a point where you want to get some distance from your guru.  And even if you take some time away, it won’t be the same when you come back.  Yes, breaking up with your guru is a lot like breaking up with your significant other.

So how do you keep things fresh, ensuing a long and happy guru-student relationship?  With three things: communication, diversity, and breaks.

Most gurus have some way for people to contact them, via Twitter, email, message boards, responding to blog posts and so on.  Using these open channels of communication, you can create an open stream of contact with your guru, learning more from them than if you just read/watched/listened to their lessons.

Also, you should see other gurus.  Diversity in the lessons you learn, and your teachers, will make you more informed and will give you a better grasp on the subject.  Reading multiple job blogs, for example, will offer you different tips and insight into the employment process and how to get the job.

Also, you should take occasional breaks from your guru.  As much as you might like to check their site daily for updates, or read their books sequentially, the content will still be there later.  You can find time to put some of their lessons into practice or analyze what you’ve learned during this time.  But you don’t need to force your guru into your routine.

It can be tough navigating your way through an activity or industry, and having solid gurus can help.  But if you become too dependent on them, you might wind up unable to develop your own skills and become a guru in your own right.

I swear to you, I don’t intend for this to become 80s Revival Metaphors Week.  It’s a random coincidence.

Anyway, today we’ll be talking about the greatest covert (or overt, depending on who you’re asking) task force dedicated to the obliteration of one single terrorist organization.  Sure, they might have started off as a more militant counter-point to barbies, but they evolved into tiny four-inch powerhouses with missile-launching action, Kung Fu grip, comic books, and a legendary TV show.  And most recently, a movie.

The strength of the GI Joes lies in their teamwork, overall badassery, and ability to seemingly have at least one member who could do anything.  I mean, you might have Snake-Eyes and Duke in every episode, but for every Heavy Duty or Scarlett on the team, there were at least ten guys like Snow Job (really), whose specialty was cold terrains, or Captain Grid-Iron, whose shtick was based on having once been a college football player.

By comparison, Cobra had the same central crew trying to do everything.  In any given episode, Cobra Commander would come up with a plan, Destro would work on the machine stuff, Dr. Mindbender would try to bend minds or something (like look cool with his moustache, maybe?), and Zartan would dress up in a not-very-good costume.  There were very few specialized Cobra agents, and the ones that they did have were either pretty useless (Raptor) or were worse at their particular ability than someone else in the organization who was doing it already (see: Darklon and Destro).

So besides pointing out that the GI Joes clearly had a better organizational structure than Cobra (and also suggesting that you should look for a company that’s like the Joes than one where your boss yells “Curssssesssss!” every time someone makes a mistake), what does this have to do with your job search?

Specialization.  As I said, the GI Joes had special agents who could handle any task.  And while there were some all-purpose agents on the squad, there were many more who were there because they could do something that no one else could do as well as they could, if at all.

We’ve already talked about developing expertise a couple times, but this is a more involved and critical step.  You need to corner the market on some specific and valuable skill that will make employers choose you over the other applicants.  Like if you’re the only CPA who also is a CPM, or if you’re a financial adviser with licenses in several other states bordering your own.  It could be as simple as becoming proficient at a new program, or as difficult as gaining a new license or certification.  But if you can prove to your potential employer that you can bring not only the expected talents to the table, but also some that would enhance the organization as a whole, you’ve just jumped to the short-list.

Please be aware that different organizations and industries prize different aptitudes on different scales, much like job experiences.  I have had several interviews where I was asked about my programming and coding experience, whereas in others, I was asked about my foreign language skills.  Make sure you are choosing specialties that can be applied in a multitude of ways and compliment each other.

Because as much as I could sit here and talk about that one time Snow Job totally skiied down that hill with a bomb and saved everyone, the Joes still won’t call him if they’re in the jungle.  Or the desert.  Or on water.  Or pretty much anywhere that isn’t snowy.

BONUS CONTENT: Sure, you and I might kick back and relax after a long day of job searches and freelance work by watching some TV or reading a good book, but what do the GI Joes and Cobra do?  Click here to find out!

So when I made this post, there were a few things I didn’t mention.

But here’s the thing about being an expert: you have to be careful about sharing your expertise.

What I mean is this: if you are looking to be an expert in a creative field, like entertainment, advertising, architecture or something like that, the problem is that you cannot be an expert without also being a critic.  As these fields are partially based on aesthetics, you can’t be as expertly on them as another field with more concrete procedures and knowledge, like finance, economics, teaching or medicine.  Since creative fields have knowledge based on case studies, it’s a bit harder to assess them.

This is part of the reason why I have a job search blog instead of an advertising blog.

I haven’t worked in the field for long enough, so I don’t have any clout or enough examples to back me up when I say that something is amazing or crap.  Not to mention that since I would like to get a job in that field, I might be accidentally insulting perspective employers.  If I were an old warhorse, with years of experience and accolades and awards under my belt, that would be less of a problem.  But alas, I am not.

So if you’re going to be an expert, make sure that your expertise won’t kill your chances at getting a job.

Boy, this is sorta ironic, huh?  After all, I’m not an expert career adviser or anything, and here I am with a blog about looking for a job.  But here’s the thing: I sort of AM an expert on it.

I’ve been looking for jobs off and on for the better part of the past two years.  I’ve done some stupid stuff, I’ve done some brilliant stuff, and I’ve made a lot of mistakes.  So in terms of finding what can work in a job application, I am an expert.  While I might not have the training as a career adviser, I’ve got a good amount of experience in the field that I can share.

You can do the same thing!

You can be an expert in an area you have expertise in.  And the more you can show your expertise, the better-known you will be for it, and the more likely an employer will see you as qualified for the job.  Back when I was in college, I was the president of the Ad Club, and got interviewed by the local news to critique some Super Bowl ads.  Did I tell everyone in advertising and marketing who I applied for a job with about it?  Did I send them links to the video (while it was online)?  HECK YES I DID.

Because it showed my expertise.

So go ahead and start a blog, social network, website, Twitter or whatever about your area of expertise.  It can only help you in your job search.