February 2006

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2006</I></div> <div> <I>The following article was first published in the Eastern Daily Press' 'The Business'  on 8 February 2006</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>Beware the experts</B></div> <bR> <div> I've lost count of the number of times I've heard someone say, `Well, it's not rocket science.'  Too right - most of the problems we face in our daily personal and business lives don't require a solution worthy of NASA sending an Apollo crew to the Moon.  But too often we still over-complicate things and, in so doing, probably reduce our chances of reaching an optimum result.</div> <bR> <div> One of the reasons we suffer from instructions, ideas and solutions that are completely over the top in their complexity (and, often, obscure or indecipherable in the bargain) is that frequently they've been devised by `experts'.  In business, it's generally assumed that experience is the foundation of wisdom and that experts who've seen and done it all have the special knowledge to lead a business into the future.  However, in today's rapidly changing business scene, they can sometimes be major obstacles to change and innovation - because experts too often rely on the past.</div> <bR> <div> Here are just a few examples of how the experts got it wrong:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">`Drill for oil?  You mean drill into the ground to try to find oil?  You're crazy!' people said when Edwin Drake came up with the idea in 1859.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">In 1959, Haloid, a small research firm, offered the mighty IBM the sales rights to their new idea - a paper copier.  IBM hired Arthur D. Little, a major consulting firm, to advise them on the product's potential.  After three months of expensive analysis, Little recommended against the acquisition, estimating the worldwide potential at less than 5,000 units.  One of their reasons was the cheap price of carbon paper.  IBM took the advice.  Ten years later Haloid - now known as Xerox - was generating over $1 billion in sales annually from their copiers.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> `The concept is interesting and well formed, but in order to earn better than a `C', the idea must be feasible' wrote a Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing an overnight delivery service.  Smith went on to found Federal Express.</div> <bR> <div> To get ahead in a changing environment, try learning to think like a beginner, not an expert.  Beginners keep it simple and ask embarrassing questions; questions the expert might regard as `stupid'.  Beginners have open minds and lack preconceived notions. Experts are adept at telling you why something won't work, while beginners have the advantage of not knowing any better and seeing only possibilities.</div> <bR> <div> So when you're next facing a problem in your business, be smart… and ask stupid questions.  Get to the simple, fundamental issue and look for an appropriately uncomplicated way to overcome it.  It can be a big mistake to dismiss what seems like a simple solution, but we too often seem hell-bent on finding a complex answer to the simplest question.  It was Albert Einstein who said `Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler'.  </div> <bR> <div> When introduced to conferences as an `expert' in a field where I have some specialised knowledge, I ask instead to be regarded as an informed enthusiast.  Because if you break down the word `expert' into its constituent parts, you'll soon realise that an `ex' is a has-been and a `spurt' is just a drip under pressure….!</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width=180 BGCOLOR="#CC3333" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>