Does your barista know your name? That’s a demonstration of their expertise. I’ll explain.

People often ask me: what’s the difference between knowledge and expertise?

At the surface, you might expect that expertise is the accumulation of a significant amount of knowledge.

But it’s much more than that. There are three core building blocks of expertise:

• 📚 Knowledge: information you pick up
• 💪 Skills: actions you’re able to perform
• 🚶‍♀️ Experiences: lived moments and events

Throughout your career, you’ve picked up a combination of these on various topics.

Impressive, yes. However, individually, each of these is a commodity, attainable by someone else:

• 📚 Knowledge: information is replicated every day at an increasing rate
• 💪 Skills: learning & development opportunities are ubiquitous and lifelong
• 🚶‍♀️ Experiences: even “once in a lifetime” events are achieved by many different people (e.g. medaling in the Olympics, climbing Kilimanjaro, winning a Nobel prize - all noble and praiseworthy, but not inherently unique)

The differentiated value comes in filtering that amassed knowledge, skill, and experience through your unique lens 👓 .

When internalized through your lens, K-S-E is synthesized into individual insights 💡, each unique to you and your context.

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(📚 + 💪 + 🚶‍♀️) x 👓 = 💡

​

The collection of those insights is your expertise.

Expertise = 💡💡💡💡💡💡💡💡💡💡💡💡💡💡...

​

An example:

Your local barista:

• 📚 Knowledge: knows what to do to open the store in the morning
• 💪 Skills: is trained on how to operate the register and make drinks
• 🚶‍♀️ Experience: has been working there 4 days a week for a month, and served hundreds of customers

[KSE passes through unique lens 👓 ]

• 💡 Insight: has noticed the rush is between 7 and 9am
• 💡 Insight: recognizes the most common questions asked
• 💡 Insight: spots regulars and internalizes their names, orders and patterns

Over time, this barista will amass thousands of insights (including your name and order!), which collectively make up their expertise, and make them uniquely qualified to speak about the operation of that store.

So when your barista greets you by name and gets your drink started, remember you are watching an expert at work. 👋 ☕️💡

Can you spot the difference between 📚 knowledge and 💡 insight in your area of expertise?

💡

-Wes