This Ain’t My First Rodeo
“This ain’t my first rodeo.”
I have heard this phrase many times, and I’ve even used it from time to time.
This phrase is steeped in expertise.
And that might be a problem.
Of course it’s reassuring to know you’ve participated in more than one rodeo, it suggests you’ve acquired a certain level of expertise.
Expertise is of course important. It reflects the time, knowledge, and experience to get really good at something.
But, when we rely too heavily on our expertise, we may be missing things.
Expertise is often steeped with assumptions.
Expertise is a lens that both sharpens and distorts. It helps us see some things clearly while blinding us to others.
Expertise carves grooves in our thinking that lead us to default to the most familiar paths and stop noticing other routes.
Expertise doesn’t just give you knowledge – it gives you a script. And the most dangerous thing about a script, is that you stop noticing you’re reading from one.
The script feels like wisdom, but it can also be a form of earned permission to stop thinking.
It’s a script that says, “you’ve done the learning,” and “you’re entitled to your conclusions.” And that script might just quietly close the door on further inquiry.
This concept even has a name in psychology – the “Earned Dogmatism Effect,” where believing you’re an expert makes you less willing to consider other viewpoints.
The bigger danger, however, is for those that only think they are an expert but aren’t fully one yet.
Genuine experts demonstrate ‘intellectual humility.’ They remain humble students of their craft. They are open to listening and learning. They strive to deepen their understanding. And they are willing to be wrong.
Genuine experts lean into curiosity and explore with wonder, no matter how many times they’ve climbed back on that saddle.
These experts are UnScripted™. Being UnScripted means you accept the invitation to notice that you’re holding a script in the first place. It’s not about abandoning your expertise but recognizing that your script may have arrived already pre-formatted.
Being UnScripted by leveraging your intellectual humility allows you to hold onto your opinions, your knowledge, and your expertise loosely, understanding the need to be open to new perspectives, ideas, and new facts.
Even, and especially, when it’s your 987th rodeo.
