What Makes a REAL Tech Expert? (It’s Not Tools)

FUNNY WHEN I LOOKED AT LINKEDIN PROFILES ALMOST EVERYBODY CLAIMS TO BE AN EXPERT SO LET'S TALK ABOUT WHAT AN EXPERT IN TECHNOLOGY REALLY IS I'LL GIVE YOU MY PERSONAL EXAMPLE OF HOW I'VE JOURNEYED THROUGH THINGS OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS WHEN I STARTED MY TECH CAREER WITHIN ABOUT 9 MONTHS I PASSED THE CISCO CERTIFIED INTERNET EXPERT EXAM ALL OF A SUDDEN I'M A CISCO CERTIFIED INTERNET EXPERT BUT HERE'S THE REALITY: I KNEW ALMOST NOTHING ABOUT NETWORKING AT THAT POINT I KNEW A LOT ABOUT ROUTING PROTOCOLS AND HOW TO CONFIGURE ROUTERS BUT THAT WAS IT THAT'S REALLY ALL I KNEW WAS UH THAT NOW 5 YEARS LATER IN MY CAREER I HAD COMPLETED OVER 10,000 HOURS OF EXPERIENCE IN A NETWORK ARCHITECT AND AN EXPERT HAS AT LEAST MINIMUM THAT'S ONLY ONE OF THE COMPONENTS 10,000 HOURS OF EXPERIENCE IN A SINGLE DOMAIN 5 YEARS INTO MY CAREER I HAD BEEN A PRINCIPAL UH SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT FOR SEVERAL YEARS IN NETWORKING AT THAT POINT I WAS CONSULTING TO THE WORLD'S LARGEST INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS THE WORLD'S LARGEST BANKS AND I WAS CONSIDERED TO BE AN EXPERT AND I WAS PRESENTED AS AN EXPERT TO CLIENTS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD PRESENTED AT CONFERENCES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT ABOUT ME 5 YEARS INTO IT AS AN EXPERT THAN I WAS AS JUST A CISCO CERTIFIED NETWORK ARCHITECT IN MY FIRST NETWORK ARCHITECT JOB WHAT WAS DIFFERENT ONE THING AFTER 5 YEARS I REALIZED HOW MUCH I STILL HAD TO LEARN UH BECAUSE AN EXPERT KNOWS WHAT THEY KNOW AND ALL THE THINGS THAT THEY DON'T KNOW AND AT THAT 0. 5 YEARS LATER I HAD BUILT MY ARCHITECTURE TEAM SO I HAD- I KNEW EXPERTS THROUGHOUT NETWORKING AND OTHER DOMAINS THAT I COULD WORK WITH OR ASK QUESTIONS TO I KNEW WHERE TO GET HELP AS AN EXPERT AND WHEN I BECAME AN EXPERT IT BECAME VERY CLEAR FOR ME TO SEE THE ARCHITECTURAL TRADE-OFFS MEANING THE DESIGN OPTIONS BETWEEN T- ARCHITECTURE ONE ARCHITECTURE TWO AND ARCHITECTURE 3 TECHNOLOGY VERSION ONE VERSUS TECHNOLOGY AND I WAS ABLE TO NOT ONLY UNDERSTAND THOSE TRADE-OFFS BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND HOW I COULD APPLY THEM TO THE BUSINESS TO ENHANCE THEIR PERFORMANCE AT THAT POINT AFTER ABOUT UH 5 YEARS BEING CONSIDERED AN EXPERT I WAS ABLE TO TAKE IN A WHOLE LOT OF INFORMATION ANALYZE THAT INFORMATION AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS AFTER THE EVALUATION OF ALL TRADE-OFFS IN MY OPINION IT'S ACTUALLY THE PROFESSIONAL JUDGMENT THAT SEPARATES THE EXPERT FROM SOMEONE ELSE THE KNOWING WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU HAVE INCOMPLETE INFORMATION WHEN YOU- YOU'RE ON A PROJECT THAT'S NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE WHERE YOU CAN GO LOOK THROUGH YOUR KNOWLEDGE LOOK THROUGH YOUR LEVELS OF EXPERIENCE LOOK AT WHAT EVERYBODY ELSE HAS DONE WHICH IS SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT TO TRY TO TAKE LESSONS AND AN ANALYSIS FROM THOSE WHEN YOU REACH THAT POINT IN MY PERSPECTIVE IS WHEN YOU'RE AN EXPERT IF YOU'VE ENJOYED THIS MAYBE GIVE IT A LIKE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS GIVE ME A COMMENT SO I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT AND MAYBE FOLLOW TO