On Monday night I went to see “A Complete Unknown”, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have been reading the avalanche of reviews and comments on line from those who grew up with Dylan’s music, and have it as the soundtrack to their lives. I have a similar story, with the initial trigger coming from a cool, younger, colleague of my Mum’s who slipped me a tape when I was about 14 or 15. We chatted about music a lot; he was like a drug dealer: “try this, I think you’ll like it”. It had Blood on the Tracks on one side and Infidels on the other. Immediately following was another: Bringing it all Back Home and Highway 61. Imagine hearing that stuff for the first time – those scenes of just that were my favourites from the movie. I was hooked.
I own about 20 Dylan albums on CD (photo above), and I have the entire set of Theme Time Radio Hour on a memory card in my car. I have many books about the man and his music, and my family and most of my friends think I am a Dylan fundi. But I’m not. Not really. There are many people who are much further down the rabbit hole than I am. Knowing this gives me a perspective and a caution in conversations – you don’t know if the guy you are talking to has spent years following the Never Ending Tour, or if he’s heard Like a Rolling Stone a couple of times on the radio.
Very broadly, this pattern is a recurring theme in my life, and probably yours too. A friend once observed that when I get into something I tend to go all in. It was the kind of observation that reveals something you don’t realise about yourself. It looked to him like I was an expert or fully committed to these things. From my perspective it felt different. Whenever I have got into something – Dylan, trail running, old cars, brewing, crypto – the attainment of any level of expertise or commitment just reveals the complexities and nuances of the level beyond. The internet is a contributory factor here. If you think you know about something, google it, go down a couple of pages and see what arcane material exists, curated by communities of enthusiasts or nutters. Gaining expertise is just recalibrating your opinion of where the lunatic fringe starts. Rather like the definition of an alcoholic as someone who drinks more than his doctor, a fanatic is someone who knows more than you about something you are into.
Gaining expertise is just recalibrating your opinion of where the lunatic fringe starts.
The challenge is in identifying expertise in any given area. If anyone on a higher level than you looks like a guru, then how do you tell the champions from the charlatans? The choice is made harder by the fact that confidence is often mistaken for competence. You know who I am talking about here. These are people - disproportionately men - who tend to get promoted more often, and paid more, than their more objective counterparts. As a clue, a reluctance to admit what they don’t know is usually a bad sign. Dylan nailed this one too:
Do you take me for such a fool / To think I’d make contact / With the one who tries to hide / What he don’t know to begin with?
When you say “I don’t know”, it creates space in which to learn. Those are the people that are fun to work with, whether they are on the consulting or the client side of the table. If you are looking for someone who is sure about everything, then don’t waste your time with me. I derive great satisfaction from untangling complexity and finding new ways of thinking about problems. But I always start by burying myself under a pile of things to learn. The value then comes from bringing a new perspective, some pattern recognition, and a bit of creativity in thinking about the situation.
I started out writing about Dylan, and thinking about expertise. I realise that my work itself is an extension of my need to get into something and understand it. Perhaps it's the engineer in me, wanting to take something apart to see how it works. I continue to learn, and finding a way of understanding things better is the first step to better strategy. Please shout if you would like to explore these ideas.
And go see the movie - it's great!