A friend and I were recently talking about quantum computing (I know 🤓 , but stay with me). Not that he nor I know much about the topic, though this 60 Minutes piece is a good primer to watch later.

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But there’s compelling reason to expect that quantum computing will be a world-changing technological advance that naturally only a very small percentage of people currently understand. Think “internet” in the ‘90s or AI in the 2010s.

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It struck me that the asymmetry of knowledge on emerging technologies is a wonderful example of the relativity of expertise. I'll explain.

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An “s-curve” is a common representation of adoption of new technologies or products, with the early days having low or slow adoption, followed by a fast explosion into the mainstream.

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Think about how only your fancy friends had iPads at first, and now they’re ubiquitous.

As an individual, wherever on the s-curve you join the party of a given technology, you’ll start to gain knowledge, experiences, and unique insights on the technology before everyone else to the “right” of you.

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The aggregate of those experiences and insights is your expertise, which, of course, will be greater than those that come after you.

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This shouldn’t be interpreted as a race to see who can amass the most knowledge the fastest. Instead, it should highlight the opportunity that if you’re early to the game on a particular domain (tech-related or otherwise), even a small amount of expertise can be helpful to a large audience that has none.

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Replace quantum computing with your domain, and think about who has yet to 'adopt'. What insights can you share with that audience that could be helpful to them?

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More to explore here for sure…

💡

-Wes