Opinion v expertise

Expertise is an interesting thing in the 21st century. On the one hand, the democratisation of information has opened up the sharing of expertise to so many more people than was possible in the past. ​​​​​​​​Which is an amazing thing. ​​​​​​​​

It’s also caused people to assume expertise in things they are patently not experts in.

Invariably that leads to visibility problems as influencers are tempted to step well outside their lane and comment on things they know very little about. That’s misleading at best, harmful at worst. ​​​​​​​​

Which leads to call-outs and a high likelihood of shame or embarrassment. (Weirdly, this often causes people to double down on their misguided positions.)​​​​​​​​

Sharing your opinion isn’t the same as sharing your expertise. It’s essential that we exercise discernment in this. ​​​​​​​​

Here’s our guide to deciding whether something is opinion or expertise: ​​​​​​​​

1. Have you spent any significant time building expertise in the field you’re building your business around? (That doesn’t always look like getting formal qualifications of course. It might come through lived experience or different career opportunities.) ​​​​​​​​

2. Do you understand the complexity of the issues in that field? Do you understand the nuance in the industry dialogue? ​​​​​​​​

3. Are you acting in integrity when it comes to what you’re speaking about and how you’re representing yourself to the people in your community? ​​​​​​​​

4. Are you contributing to, or providing commentary on, an industry? (One is about sharing expertise, the other is about offering an opinion.) ​​​​​​​​

Opinions and expertise are both important and both have roles to play. Conflating them, however, serves no one.