Nearly everyone has experienced or at least witnessed it. You make a mistake, and a person who should have been an ally broadcasts your error to a large audience or, worse, to a senior member of your team, with the intent of convicting you and acquitting themselves. Nobody likes this form of betrayal, but the practice is epidemic. Regardless of its frequency or justification, throwing people under the bus is unbecoming of an SME. It is a violation of trust, and SMEs should never violate trust.

As an observer of experts, I fi nd this subject particularly entertaining. It turns out that throwing an SME under the bus is masochistic. It’s comparable to a high school basketball player challenging LeBron James to a one-on-one contest. Or like watching someone get in the face of Ultimate Fighting Championship star Conor McGregor. Or like hearing someone mutter that Olympic champion sprinter Usain Bolt is slow. Fools make these assertions, and often it is the fool who tries to throw the SME under the bus. But fools don’t merit retaliation. James proves nothing by dunking over a high school player. McGregor proves nothing by knocking out some obnoxious drunk. Bolt shouldn’t lace his shoes for the vast majority of us. Regardless of how tempting it may be to shred a foolish challenger, don’t do it.

An SME is an advocate, a supporter, and an ally. They gain trust because they always lift and support; they never destroy or tear down. They can be trusted, not just when it is easy, but also when it is hard. When stress gets high, when other people are looking for political cover, the SME is a steadfast supporter and friend. Even when the SME is betrayed and left to swing in the breeze, even when the SME knows where all the blame actually lies, or even when the SME could easily dodge the bullet and cast someone else to the dogs, they never throw anyone under the bus.