Evolved vs. Inherited Expertise

How bottom-up problem solvers create more value than top-down theorists

TL;DR: Career development is more effective when built from bottom-up problem expertise rather than chasing technological trends. Evolved experts who deeply understand specific pain points create lasting value and develop knowledge that compounds, while those focused solely on technology trends develop expertise that quickly becomes obsolete.

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Most people approach career development backwards.

They're obsessed with trends, buzzwords, and keeping up with the latest innovations. They doom scroll X. They panic about missing the next breakthrough, knowing that every innovation has it’s window of opportunity.

They're looking up at the technology when they should be looking down at the problems.

This is backwards. Completely backwards.

While everyone's racing to become “experts," or “thought leaders,” the real opportunity is becoming an expert at problems solving.

The Expertise Gap

Here's where expertise thrives:

In implementation gaps across industries.

In compliance nightmares no one knows how to solve.

In human-computer workflow problems that need fixing.

In quality control needs that didn't exist before.

These problems are everywhere. They're concrete. They're urgent. They're valuable.

But most people miss them because they're too busy chasing the technology itself.

I was at a conference recently, surrounded by corporate development people and founders who wanted to pick my brain on AI.

Something struck me during these conversations.

There’s two distinct types of expertise: