According to the academic literature, expert performance occurs when there are “superior reproducible performances on representative tasks within a respective domain.” This scholarly definition implies, among other things, that expert performance is measured. In fact, it must be. There could be no “superior reproducible performance” if the performance was not measured in the first place.

Professional athletes, for example, are some of the most measured professionals in the world. They are evaluated every time they compete. Similarly, artists and entertainers are evaluated whenever they stand in front of a microphone. News anchors are evaluated through their broadcasts, and politicians every time they give a speech.

For corporate SMEs, however, the metrics for evaluation are elusive. There are no well-defined playing fields or stages. Measurement of an expert performance might occur at a client meeting or when a supervisor gives a difficult assignment. And few things in life are precisely repeatable. One thing, however, is certain: There will be times when you will be expected to deliver “superior reproducible performance.”

When someone is given the title of “subject matter expert,” that person is simultaneously challenged to perform in an expert manner and to measure up to a high standard in their field. Singers, baseball players, and other entertainers have a distinct advantage over corporate SMEs in this regard. Entertainers typically know when they are being measured and when they are not. They know when they step onto a stage that they are expected to perform at a high level, but when they are in the practice studio, they know they can relax or at least practice without judgment. Corporate SMEs, on the other hand, frequently do not know when they are being evaluated, or worse, they don’t believe they are being evaluated at all.

SMEs can pretend that their performance is not being measured, but it is. It is being measured every time the SME performs. SMEs are best served by identifying the domain of their expertise, understanding the metrics of performance, and then consistently excelling in the representative tasks that define it. This is expert performance.