Henry Ford on experts
Filed under: inspiration, motivation, quotes
All the wise people demonstrated conclusively that the engine could not compete with steam. They never thought that it might carve out a career for itself. That is the way with wise people–they are so wise and practical that they always know to a dot just why something cannot be done; they always know the limitations. That is why I never employ an expert in full bloom. If ever I wanted to kill opposition by unfair means I would endow the opposition with experts. They would have so much good advice that I could be sure they would do little work.
I read this quote recently in Henry Ford’s autobiography, and it got me thinking about the discussions I’ve heard in the past about being an amateur or an expert.
Ford’s thought seems to come from the perspecive that an expert that is in ‘full bloom’ has only the function of spewing out their knowledge and sharing their brilliance at the expense of getting their hands dirty and having the undeniable truth of due dilligence. Ford proved time and time again that the experts were wrong, time and time again because he did his due dilligence.
Here is how I define the two:
A EXPERT is someone who acquired great sums of knowledge and experiences in a given area. They are often considered to be an authority on the subject and their thoughts are often taken for true because of their status. From my perspective it seems that they seem to become caught up in their own ideas and the ideas of growth and change care them.
An AMATUER is someone who has a journey ahead of them. They know they don’t have all of the answers and because of this they are continually moving forward. Gathering tools and resources to them that will help them to achieve their goals. Most noteably the amatuer doesn’t have the anchoring that an expert does. Amatuers often forge their way through the already concieved ideas knowing that nothing is absolute while the expert will talk at long length in defense of their knowledge.
I think that it is extremely important to have a measure of both in our lives. It is always important to have a clearly defined and solid understanding of the things we have come to know. Its also equally important to remember not to get bogged down in our own ideas and things that we ‘know’ to be true because all things change. I personally much prefer the persona of the amatuer. I like the idea of always moving forward assimilating change and knowledge into my being.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: If you’re not growing, you’ve given up.
Don’t give up.
Don’t become set in your ways and understanding.
Continue to learn. We are put on this earth to learn.
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