Becoming an Expert through teaching
Being an "expert" doesn't mean you know everything about your field. It means you know how to apply the knowledge in a productive way. One of the best pieces of advice I've ever received backs this up:
To get good at something, you must teach it.
When I was a student at Stanford's d-school, David Kelley—the founder of Ideo—gave me this advice. It felt misplaced, since 𝘩𝘦 was 𝘮𝘺 teacher. However, the more I've led teams and taught people, the more I've come to appreciate his wisdom.
This advice reminded me of the story of Richard Feynman, the renowned physicist. Feynman was known for his ability to explain complex concepts in simple terms. When asked about his secret, he shared an anecdote from his time teaching at Caltech. He would challenge himself to prepare a freshman lecture on a topic he had never taught before. In doing so, he forced himself to break down the subject matter to its core principles, making it accessible to students with no prior knowledge.
Teaching naturally puts you in a position to answer questions:
• Technical questions about how to do a piece of your job
• Philosophical questions about why you're doing something
• Adjacent questions that bring to light new ideas to explore
For every question you can't immediately answer, you need to teach yourself something more. This process dramatically improves your understanding of the field. When you hold yourself to the standard of a "teacher," you carry the responsibility of being a good student. You start looking at the world from a beginner's point of view. Everything offers the potential to teach you, to feed your curiosities. You commit to being a lifelong learner.
When you hold yourself to the standard of a "teacher," you carry the responsibility of being a good student.
If you're brand new to the world of AI or design and you want someone to teach you, plenty of people can offer their expertise. However, if you have expertise and want to improve your own understanding of the field, then you may want to consider teaching. As Feynman demonstrated, teaching others can be the best way to master a subject yourself.
Don't sell yourself short—if you want to be the expert, teach somebody to apply knowledge in the real world. We're all living there, after all.