The novice and the expert

Business has always been fascinating for me.

And I like observing different kinds of people in business. There are the business experts behaving like novices. They ask questions not because they don’t know the answer, but because they either want to confirm what they know or they want to know more what they know. And then there are the novices who tend to behave like experts. They don’t ask too many questions, only because they’re afraid of being found out that they’re novices. Then there are those who know a little bit, but who would open their mouth wide to voice out unwanted opinions and offer unsolicited advice to the consternation of many.

I have met all three kinds of people, and this is what I have observed: whether we’re talking about wine tasting, manufacturing, culinary, or even business consultancy work, the connoisseur and the novice see things differently.

The experts look at a product, a service or even a business case, and he or she sees the differences; a novice, on the other hand, sees the similarities. Where a connoisseur can discern subtle shades of distinction based on nuanced asymmetries, an amateur lacks the necessary filters to canvas, to organize, to sift an assortment in a meaningful way. The novice, or the amateur, struggles to look for the beginning, the middle or the end. Meanwhile, the expert can navigate a category with effortless intuition.

When I look around the cosmetics section of a department store, all I see are similar products of similar shades, featuring similar packaging just with different brands and prices. But the Ilocana (my wife, Lilia) can see the distinction between one lipstick and another. It’s obvious I am a novice when it comes to cosmetics, and she is an expert. But my wife couldn’t understand why I fancy this watch brand compared to another, when all she sees are a nondescript hour hand, minute hand, second hand, numbers and gears. When it comes to watches, she becomes the novice.

At the heart of business success is the ability to compete. The ability to compete, in turn, is dependent on the ability to differentiate from competitors.

Differentiate or die, or so the saying goes. But when a category reaches a point where there’s a growing number of consumers skeptical about the differences between products and brands, the differentiation within the category is at risk of being rendered meaningless.

The market is no longer composed of amateurs. They have matured. Thus we have the term: “maturing market”. The “New and Improved” tag attached to the same products no longer appeal to those who do not only see the similarities but who also understand the differences.

The difference between novices and experts apply in all aspects of life. Singers and even speakers like me are not exempted. Amateurs practice until they can get it right; professionals practice until they can’t get it wrong. And wannabe experts are obvious because no matter how hard they try in getting things right, the wrongs still show. Trying to get things right is a stage everyone has to go through. Famous Olympian Nadia Comaneci said, “If I work on a certain move constantly, then finally, it doesn’t seem risky to me. The idea is that the move stays dangerous and it looks dangerous to my foes, but it is not to me. Hard work has made it easy.”

“A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist,” says Louis Nizer. Whether you are in business or you are in a profession, start from being a novice, but work your way up to becoming a professional. Do not make false claims and do not invent credentials. Study. Learn. Work hard. Then you will not only begin to see the differences in your craft, you’ll actually do things and get things right!

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