Part 2 of 5 for the August edition of "Converging over Coffee"
Expertise on the surface refers to a set of skills/knowledge in a particular field. If we stop there, delivering expertise can simply mean applying or sharing those skills. We must all know many good engineers (and other professionals) who do this day-in, day-out. If you told them exactly what you need, you can count on them to produce a reliable answer.
Like if a restaurant asks you to customize exactly how you want your food, you will probably enjoy getting what you asked for. But there is another kind of restaurant that thinks of every detail to make your dining experience perfect and still adjusts to your preferences while maintaining their high standards. Both are fine - people want different things - but only one is recognized as quality or "true expertise".
So how do we recognize "true expertise"? Think of someone you know in this category. Most likely, it is someone you go to NOT to ask for the right answers, but the right questions. They use their expertise to help you understand your problem in a new way, clarify the risks & potential and show you what else you need to get to the solution. This is what we want to prize & look to for leadership.
