Experts and Idiots Need to Interact

This is an abridged and edited version of an article that appeared in the Helsinki Times in 2014.

Experts and idiots are stuck in the same world and often have the same goals. Why does it so often go wrong?

I’m an expert in sports and business communication; I’m an idiot when it comes to chemistry and nuclear physics. It’s easy for me to talk with other sports experts; we share the same jargon and style. But a chemist trying to talk with me about their field is likely to be a waste of time. 

These difficulties would just be interesting blips in communication but for one thought: the chemist may need me to invest time, money or energy in his idea. 

I’m no different from you; we’re all experts and idiots. When experts and non-experts 

communicate well, great things happen. When they don’t, bad things happen. Or, nothing 

happens.

In fact, for most experts, conveying their specialist information to non-experts is their most important job.

The Brilliant Engineer

The engineer who has figured out the solution to a problem in a building needs to share the idea with many people who do not understand engineering. The owner of the building- a finance expert- will need to approve the solution. The construction company will need to understand how to implement the idea. The construction worker will need to know where to put the screws. In order to have the solution fully and correctly implemented, the engineer needs to give the right information in the right form at the right time to all of these people.

Poor communication at any stage of the process can lead to a great idea being passed over or poorly implemented.

But How Do I Talk to an Idiot?

There are tricks to bridging the gap between experts and non-experts. Most importantly, we need to understand is the difference between sharing information and sharing an idea. If I want to talk about what excites me about travel, I could share a million facts about all the great places I’ve visited. With a little work, I could tell about the history of a number of cities.

But if I really want to convince a non-traveller that they should give it a try, I’ll talk about the fantastic people I met, the wonderful meals I ate, the humorous miscommunications. 

These examples may seem obvious, but it’s clear that many experts don’t get it. How often have you asked an IT expert what’s wrong with your computer, only to get a load of background information that, while true, neither helps you decide what to do nor how to avoid the problem in the future?

Expert-Idiot Interaction Can Change the World

Life is a procession of interactions between experts and idiots. Doctors talk to patients, accountants write emails about finances, scientists write reports about climate change. 

On a societal level, these interactions need to be smooth. The climate change scientist needs to be able to describe the problems and solutions to a wide range of decision-makers. The healthcare innovator needs to show that a solution will work for patients, families, employers, insurance companies and the state. 

At the organizational level, a business that has smooth communication between experts of different fields will prosper. If the designer is clear about the plan, the finance expert will know how much money to allocate to the project and HR will know how many people to hire. 

On a personal level, if I want my neighbor to go to a basketball game with me, I need to talk about the energy and passion of the players and the fans.

In a very real sense, all progress is caused by the transmission of an idea from experts in one field to experts in another field. Our job as experts is to make our brilliant ideas accessible to idiots. Our job as idiots is to add our own expertise.