Agenda
There are several research documents that SMEs should know and understand. Dreyfus and Dreyfus is definitely one of them.
In the late 1970s the United States Department of Defense was highly interested in the emergency response behavior of high-performance fighter pilots. The military commissioned multiple research projects on expertise and expert development. A paper title "A Five-Stage Model of the Mental Activities Involved in Directed Skill Acquisition." was written by two brothers Stuart and Hubert Dreyfus from the University of California Berkeley.
The original document was accepted by the Defense Technical Information Center in early 1980 and the model has since been revised and adjusted many times. In this and subsequent research, the brothers and others, claim that whether you are flying an aircraft, leaning a language, performing heart surgery, or programming computers, the Dreyfus and Dreyfus Model applies.
Dreyfus suggests that there are five stages along a continuum from Novice to Expert performance. The novice is the first stage of development. It is the embryo, the starting point.
Across the five stages of proficiency, Dreyfus introduces five additional dimensions of function. All people can be measured in their knowledge, their standard of work, their autonomy, their ability to cope with complexity, and their perception of context.
Novices have minimal working knowledge of key aspects of their practice. They typically provide unsatisfactory bodies of work. Supervision is frequently needed and they have little earned autonomy or independent judgment. They have no ability to cope with complexity. And, their isolated perception of context leaves them thinking about actions as a series of steps.
With concerted effort a novice becomes a beginner: Knowledge is still limited, but they have developed a working understanding of key elements. They can now deliver an acceptable standard of work. Some supervision is still needed but they have developed a measure of autonomy and independent judgment. Complexity is still a challenge, only occasionally measuring up. And perception of context has broadened, albeit only slightly to the scope of components.
Most professionals will advance to a level of competence. Domain knowledge is now considered good enough for full service. At this stage the standard of work is clean and right and consistent. There may occasionally be a lack refinement, but errors are the exception. Competent professionals act independently and achieve most tasks under their own judgement. Complex situations are frequently handled, albeit with some planning. And entire systems are recognized and understood.
A fully proficient professional brings deep and unquestioned knowledge as well as a highly refined standard of work. They take full responsibility for their body of work and they deal with complex situations with confidence and efficiency. Their perceptions are holistic.
Finally, an expert is the highest order of professional excellence. Knowledge is deep, authoritative, and exhaustive. Excellent craftsmanship is achieved with ease. The expert acts with sovereignty, independent, and creative. All forms of complexity are masterfully managed. Solutions are intuitive and self evident. Finally, the expert is visionary. They see the overall picture when others do not and offers alternatives and inspirational vision.
Some publications claimed that the path from Novice to Expert is a 10,000 hour proposition. Such a metric is fictional and juvenile. There is no such thing as a 10,000 hour rule that navigates this complex matrix. There is no guarantee of success regardless of hours invested. The path is neither linear nor certain.
Dreyfus suggests that progress through the matrix is possible. It is teachable, repeatable, and attainable. Managers might consider using the Dreyfus model to help colleagues advance. Each company’s implementation is different, but the stages and functions of human development are the same whether we are learning a second language, flying military aircraft, performing cardiovascular surgery, or building complex information systems. The mark of the subject matter expert is authoritative knowledge, an excellent standard of work, independent sovereignty, composure and mastery in the face of complexity, and visionary perception. The SME who attains all of these levels will be unstoppable in their industry and highly valuable to their organizations and their clients.
