Being an Expert Is About More Than Just Knowing the Answers

Author(s): Hope Mueller

It’s also about knowing when you’re stuck and need a reset.

I’ve been doing jigsaw puzzles for decades, but I recently had an experience I’ve never had before: I was seriously tempted to walk away from a puzzle without finishing it, an odd feeling.

All the strategies I had long used to solve puzzles were failing me.

If you’re a puzzle person, you know the rhythms of the beginning and end of assembling one. You separate out all the edge pieces and start with the frame. Then, as you near the end, the last pieces practically place themselves.

This puzzle was different. It was challenging from start to finish, and it reminded me of something more valuable than how to fit cardboard pieces together.

In leadership, as in life, we sometimes find ourselves in a situation where nothing we have learned or experienced before applies. We have to adjust our style to what an individual or a team needs, and we sometimes discover or develop entirely new approaches to achieve our goals.