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How Do You Know You've Arrived?
Over the past several weeks, we've considered some of the things used to establish professional competence.
Education. Training. Testing. Credentials. Experience. Writing ability. Numeracy. Business acumen. Judgment.
So, how do you know when you've arrived?
Perhaps you don't.
A degree marks an educational accomplishment. Certification recognizes achievement against an established standard. A warrant entrusts authority. Experience gives us opportunities to apply what we know and learn from the results.
Each represents progress.
None makes us permanently competent.
That distinction becomes increasingly important in a profession that never stops changing. Regulations change. Case law develops. Markets evolve. Technology introduces new capabilities—and new risks. Yesterday's experience remains valuable, but yesterday's answer may no longer be correct.
There is another complication.
Knowledge accumulates. Wisdom must be developed.
Learning from a failed business judgment can add something to our knowledge: Now I know what happened.
Wisdom requires another step. We must synthesize what happened, understand why it matters, and determine how that lesson should influence the next decision. That makes professional competence less a destination than a continuing process.
Learn. Apply. Observe. Reflect. Adjust. Learn again.
The objective is not to accumulate enough credentials that we can finally declare ourselves finished. It is to remain sufficiently curious, engaged, and self-aware to recognize what we know, what we don't know, and what we need to learn next.
Perhaps the best evidence that we are becoming wiser professionals is recognizing that there will always be more to learn.
P.S. Professional Challenge: What is something important to your work that you know less well today than you would like to? What are you doing about it?
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