E-Myth Blog

The Curse of the Experts

2006 | Oct 20 in Management

By E-Myth Business Coach

Every growing business sometimes needs an infusion of critical expertise. If you need to expand online, you'll need an IT expert. If you want to increase your press exposure, you'll hire a PR expert. If you need to maximize your return on investment, you'll hire a qualified accountant or financial adviser.

But we're often our own worst enemies when it comes to experts. In thrall of their expertise, we bring them into our business and say, "Do your thing." We abdicate our leadership position, often compromising our vision in favor of someone else's -- someone who doesn't understand our goals and expectations for the business. And when things then go horribly awry, the result is what I call the Curse of the Experts.

Don't waste your money

Let me start with an example. I have a client I'll call Ken. When he first came to see me, he was at wit's end. His health care supply company was growing, but he struggled with an undisciplined office staff and haphazard salespeople.

"Where did you find these employees?" I asked.

"I ran an ad, emphasizing that experienced is required," he answered. "I then hired the most highly experienced people and paid them well."

"And yet your business is paralyzed by chaos and you're captive to your staff," I ventured. He shot me a how-did-you-know look. "Yes, and even worse, I paid a pin-striped, spit-shined expert to solve the problem. This over-educated so-called "organizational specialist" arrived with clipboard in hand, brimming with self-assurance and technical expertise. I told him to 'fix things.'

"Two months and thousands of dollars later, the expert produced an impressive array of charts and recommendations that proved - quite decisively - that he knew nothing about my business problems or how to solve them. What a waste of money!"

Employ expert systems, not expert people

Next, Ken hired an office manager who claimed expertise as an organizer and morale booster. "I'll whip the troops into shape," she promised. "The office will purr like a well-tuned engine."

Before long, the business was indeed running more smoothly. Employees arrived at work on time, morale was better, sales people were more attentive, and revenue increased. But with the challenge gone, the office manager got bored, claimed victory, and quit.

At this point, I suggested that his problem was not in employing experts, but rather in not employing expert systems. While the office manager truly did deliver the goods, when she left there was no system established that could sustain her efforts. I urged Ken to identify critical office operations, such as reception, inventory control, lead conversion, and billing, and to create expert systems for those operations that anyone could run.

Ken reevaluated the qualities each operational function required, and discovered he needed employees who were articulate, flexible, and able to listen and follow instructions. Most of all, they needed to project confidence and competence. Looking around, Ken was struck by how few of his employees actually possessed those qualities! He had always hired people for their expertise, expecting competence to follow.

What can you do?

Do you recognize your business in this scenario? What can you do to keep the Curse of the Experts at bay? Before you think about putting "experience required" in your want ads, consider whether you're really hoping to find someone who possesses true expertise, or simply the capability of performing certain required tasks.

Look for enthusiastic folks who can soak up your systems, learn to run them, and come together as a strong, cooperative team. Break the curse, my friends. Realize that expert systems can provide all the "expertise" you really need.

Check List:

• Consider if you really need to rely on an expert at all
• Develop expert systems in all operational areas, and hire staff with the skills to follow and operate those systems
• Make sure your staff understands the goals and expectations you have for the business
• Hire for requisite qualities such as competence and flexibility, not experience

Comments

1. Nancy R. says:

   I sure can identify with the curse of experts. I worked very hard on my business plan in an entrepreneur program, but I was struggling with trying to figure out the financial part of the plan for my future business. So an expert convinced me I should hire him to do a better plan. What a mistake. The banks thought my numbers were way off when I asked for a loan. But I didn't understand the numbers, so I couldn't defend my request for a loan. The spreadsheets looked impressive, but it was just a bunch of numbers as far as I was concerned. I didn't own the financial information. I would of been better off hiring a tutor to guide and edit me through my business plan, but not do the plan. Fortunately I was smart enough to see my error in thinking about using experts. The lesson did cost me a pile of money, but will probably saves me lots of $$ down the road the next time I think about hiring an expert. Nancy

   Submitted Oct 26, 2006 4:21 PM

2. Jeff F. says:

   I used consultants in my former corporation, a high tech company that developed and built scanning and optimization systems for the lumber industry.  Now I am a consultant, helping mill owners and managers get more out of the equipment they already have, and helping them plan for the future.  

   You would think I would disagree with this article, but quite the contrary...I agree wholeheartedly.  I believe in hiring good experienced people, but not abdicating the leadership role.  I believe in building expert systems that reduce the variations in your business - that deliver the value to your customers in a consistent way, in line with the goals of the business and the expectations you have created with your customers, employees and other stakeholders. 

   I see many companies purchase the best equipment, then not put systems in place to make sure they are performing at the highest levels.  What a waste!  I also see them hire "experts" or "highly experienced" people that are not team players, that don't work towards the goals of the company, and sometimes they even undermine attempts to put expert systems in place. 

   The very best performing companies in the industry I serve, have well designed expert systems, good leadership and clear goals.  Employees and management have both accountability and rewards based on meeting specific objectives that are aligned with long term goals.  They spend time trying to improve the internal systems and reducing variations in their business.  The systems insure the success of properly trained people.  Profit is a beautiful thing, and it is not accidental. 

   Jeff  

   Submitted May 22, 2008 4:54 PM

3. carolyn h. says:

   Oh my goodness I could not agree more.  Every time I have hired someone who I believe knows more than I , I have been bitterly disappointed.  All that happens after I have lost a lot of money on wages and sleep I realize that I know far more than I give myself credit for.  I have completed 2 years of the E Myth course and have spent the last year putting Action Plans into place but it seems I have to reach a crisis point before I slap myself on the wrist.  I have just spent time learning the scenes behind MYOB and have not only put Action Plans into place but I have employed a lady who is not experienced but has common sense,  is very willing to learn and loves doing action plans as they are such a help to her.  My world has opened up again and now I am not at the mercy of the so called experts in my office.  As for the experts, I will never hire one again unless it is a consultant (not a full time staff member) who can lead me down a path where I can learn new methods and write new systems for the staff that I employ who really want to work.  Unemployment in our state West Australia has been at times around 3% because of the mineral boom so it has been very difficult but I now know my number one priority is employing a staff member who needs a job and wants to work as a team member.  The rest will come.

   Submitted May 23, 2008 2:51 AM

4. Magnus S. says:

   Thank you Larry and contributors for a very thought provoking discussion! I am attending Michael Gerber's E-Myth coaching (with Larry as devoted and inspiring coach!) and Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad coaching. On the issue of experts, I am confronted with two opposing statement. (Before continuing: Kiyosaki very strongly recommends E-Myth, having gone through E-Myth coaching himself).

   E-Myth view: the curse of experts

   Rich Dad view: the importance (blessing:)) of experts

   Reading the article and your comments, I start seeing common traits. Both schools stress that if you want to run a successful business, you can't abdicate leadership, vision, strategy. But when you truly don't know something, find experts (generalists or specialists, books, coaches or consultants) to learn from, test the ideas in your setting, evaluate, create systems, recruit people with attitude (rather than experience) to run and develop the systems - using your leadership and vision throughout. And when ready to move to the next level: challenge your comfort zone by learning from someone who knows more than you (experts), implement, systematize... - Ongoing business development, probably common to both schools.

   Utilizing experts as an excuse to abdicate your own leadership and vision results in the curse of confusion and chaos. Not utilizing experts when you need to learn more results in the curse of stagnation. But to use experts to learn and grow while staying leader and visionary of your business is certainly a blessing for everyone involved.

   Magnus Still, www.stillart.eu, Sweden

   Submitted May 23, 2008 6:08 AM

5. Dausen T. says:

   This is very true we are Building contractors .. the Client required us to hire experienced Civil Engineer... more than ten years .. But the consequence is a mess up... difficult to learn our systemm.. we suffered a monetary loss... we decided to hire un experienced Engineers .. and was fast to learn the system...

   What can we do?? clients, consultants insists on experienced experts... what can we do??

   Submitted May 24, 2008 12:32 AM