I ain’t afraid of no ghosts!! Well…I am a little afraid of ghosts, and if they were available, I would call the Ghostbusters.
This fictional depiction of subject matter expertise brings up an interesting topic. How do you represent yourself in terms of your subject matter expertise? Are you the soothing expert that makes everyone laugh, are you the staunch representative of the facts, is your expertise unquestionable or are you open to the unknown?
Let’s stick with the Bill Murray references for a bit. Mr. Murray and his brothers were inducted into the Golf Caddy Hall of Fame (yes, there is such a thing). Their induction was based on their expertise and adventures as caddies in their youth. Those adventures are what inspired the movie Caddyshack. One of the many things that made Caddyshack funny was how it was a believable representation of snobbish country club life and how the “lowly” caddy interpreted the lifestyle.
Clearly the last few months I’ve been watching the classics.
Speaking of the pandemic, who are you looking to as your subject matter expert and why? Are they scientific, comedic, stoic, or easily understood?
Remember, you can be a SME (Subject Matter Expert) to someone just as easily and importantly as someone is a SME to you. This means a few different things. First, as a SME you are responsible for two things:
1. Transfer your knowledge factually. You can give your opinion but be sure to define it as an opinion. Part of being an SME is being able to draw on your experiences when given a never before seen situation.
2. Be yourself. The reason you have been given the role of SME is that you are genuine the way that you are, do not try to be someone you are not.
The keys to being a SME are:
1. You must know more about the topic than the person looking for your expertise
2. You can teach your expertise in the language of the person looking for help. By language I mean using the terms that are relevant to the person seeking your help and their experiences
Advisors and SME’s are often used interchangeably. I am of the belief that they are similar in nature, but I tend to separate them. I like to think of advisors as operators, people that have “seen things” and have had “things” happen to them. I think of SME’s as scientists with facts. Both, however, are teachers.
I have picked my SME and Advisor for the Pandemic Recovery. I have a little bit of a medical background, so I know enough to get me in trouble but not enough for me to make critical decisions without researching things to death. My SME has extensive medical experience and infectious disease knowledge. My advisor is an operator with a similar medical background to my own and they run their own business, so they understand my world and my clients.
As for the ghosts, Dr. Venkman exudes the confidence I need to see in an SME when he says, “Back off man…I’m a scientist!”
As for caddying…I spent the better part of my youth doing that, so I need more expertise in the arena of greens keeping. Maybe I will just stick with the Carl Spackler character when he said, “Au revoir, Gopher”
Until next time my friends, Stay Safe…Stay Healthy!