In times of uncertainty we look to experts–usually those with a certain level of education and experience–to guide us and reassure us. However, as Noreena Hertz points out in her TED talk our reliance on experts often leads to hero worship and blind following, and, most importantly, the inability for us to recognize our own expertise and the expertise of people who dont have a special title:

This is not to say that there is no place for experts in our conversations. There is value in having a focus on a particular area and being able to share that knowledge in a useful way. What Hertz shares that I think is incredibly useful is our reliance on experts without being critical and ignoring the expertise that we already have.  According to Hertz, we need to democratize expertise instead of believing it can be obtained by a privileged few.

Social media has definitely made it easier to democratize expertise in that we can now research, challenge, connect, and become experts given the volume of information and people that are accessible.  However, I think  we still tend to ignore how in the pursuit of becoming an expert we may limit our ability to acknowledge and support varying types of expertise by not challenging ourselves, by limiting our connection with people who are different from us, and by not engaging in what it means to be an expert in the first place.

So as young people are encouraged to brand themselves as experts, how can we be sure not to fall into the same habits that make expertise so inaccessible?

1. Actively encourage and participate in “spaces of dissent”: A powerful phrase and approach by Hertz, we have to ask ourselves: Are we being sure to expose ourselves to ideas that are different from ours? We’ve been celebrated at the most diverse generation–how does this translate into active engagement with the diversity that exists?  Being able to support differing views instead of ignoring them not only makes you smarter but it also allows genuine conversation to flourish.

2. Acknowledge and support different forms of leadership: A few weeks ago Rosetta Thurman wrote about you dont need a college degree (or any fancy credential) to lead or make a difference.  However, you wouldn’t know that based on our selection of leaders. In redefining leadership we expand our definition of expertise; we realize that people are experts and leaders in various ways beyond a certain credential. So rather than focusing on the credential you lack, develop and strengthen the skills that you have that allow you to contribute to your cause or field in a useful way.

3. Admit when mistakes and ask for correction: Part of making expertise accessible and rooted in reality is the admission of when mistakes are made. Being humble and asking for support goes a long way in demonstrating trust in other people’s ideas and recognizing the limitations of your own work.

What do you think? Do we need to rethink how we define and engage experts?

Akhila over at Justice for All recently wrote a compelling piece advising millennials to stop talking about how young we are and focus on developing our expertise:

By overemphasizing your youth & inexperience, you miss out on such learning experiences, as well as the opportunity to present yourself as a thought leader in your field. Don’t let your youth define you. There are too many 22 year-olds writing about their quarterlife crisis, and not enough showing they’ve got what it takes to become leaders.

This is a hard one for many of us to grapple with (including me). While we talk a great deal about our youth we rarely go into specific aspects of our work experience and knowledge make us valuable members of the social change community. As a result we sometimes don’t prioritize developing, refining, and promoting our craft.

At the same time, I do think there is a need to talk about our experiences as young people. There are aspects of our generation and our collective experiences that are important to share (and often signal large changes in culture, as is the case with other generations), in addition to the fact that social justice work should seek to include ALL voices, period.

Why we should talk about young people

The main reason why I do focus on young people is because we tend to assume that the lack of young voices is due to lack of valuable input from young people. I simply do not think that by virtue of being young that you have nothing to contribute. I believe that attitude does more harm than good.

Why? Because this attitude goes beyond “omg young people are so annoying/cool!” to allowing us to avoid important questions about young people. In particular: how are we ensuring that there are promising opportunities for leadership? what does it mean when we have a generation saddled with debt and lack of mobility? What does the growing trend towards entrepreneurship by young people mean for nonprofits? What do we even mean when we say millennials–are we ignoring differences along race and class? Even when young people have the credentials and experience to lead they are mocked because of their age begging the question–is expertise really all that matters? Are we defining leadership so narrowly that only a select few can lead? And finally, on a smaller scale, the reality is that if you are just starting your career, the issues you face will certainly be different than someone who has been working for years. What are those challenges and how can you overcome them?

I explore these questions and highlight the voices of other young people who do the same to demonstrate our interest and commitment to growing, sharing, learning, and leading. That we arent just receivers of bad news and pity nor do we hang around mom and dad waiting for money (I despise this image so much). We are active participants in shaping our future and the future of social justice. Apparently the idea of young people being social justice leaders is shocking to many people so thoughtful presentation is key.

Finding the right narrative

Therefore, I think the issue isn’t just that we talk about our youth but rather how we talk about it. We need to shift our narrative from solely discussing how young we are to what we each want to be known for and the impact we want to have.

So instead of focusing on what you lack or just the fact that you are young, ask yourself this: what do you want to be the “go-to” person for?  What can you actively share that allows you to combine your passion and experience in a meaningful way?  I think that by focusing on impact we are pushed to engage people more constructively and view our work more critically.

What do you think?  Is the millennial conversation overrated?  Does the conversation need to shift?