Expertise

veryard projects > knowledge and intelligence > expertise

we offer

value of expertise

how expertise is organized

how expertise works

limits of expertise

We adopt a complex systems approach to knowledge.

consultancy
mentoring
coaching
education
training

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RAEW analysis: responsibility, authority, expertise, work

Sources of Expertise

Deployment of Expertise

Transference and
CounterTransference

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Sources of Expertise

veryard projects > knowledge and intelligence > expertise > sources

The stance of expertise always implies that we can (should) trust some body of knowledge, and therefore also trust the bearer of this knowledge.

But where does this knowledge come from? One source of knowledge is what is sometimes called Ex Cathedra. This corresponds to authority/hierarchical trust. But we may prefer to rely on other sources of knowledge.

Darian Leader (noted Lacanian analyst) wrote about expert knowledge in the Times (January 2004). He discusses the exposure of false expertise relating to cot-death. He also discusses what happens when rival experts from different disciplines disagree. Which experts do we believe?

A key question is the legitimization of knowledge. For some reason, we seem to trust people who are well-known. And the article ends: "The less value we give to the internal process of learning, the more we expect knowledge to be provided to us from the outside."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,175-973723,00.html

Deployment of Expertise

veryard projects > knowledge and intelligence > expertise > deployment

It is hard to deploy knowledge without at the same time implying some claim over this knowledge. This introduces an element of metacommunication.

Limits to Expertise

veryard projects > knowledge and intelligence > expertise > limits

The ownership of knowledge is often abused, as is the stance of "expertise". Self-appointed experts demand our trust in their supposedly superior knowledge, and we have often been let down badly.

We have seen government scientists in their white coats, insisting that it was impossible for humans to be affected by BSE-infected meat, that epidemics from foot-and-mouth to SARS were completely under control, and that the MMR vaccine was completely safe. Once we start to distrust any of these claims, we are liable to distrust all of them equally.

Further Discussion

veryard projects > knowledge and intelligence > expertise