In a way, professional expertise can be a double-edged sword. When a focused group of people dedicate themselves to an industry niche they become able to unlock and extract potential due to their heightened knowledge and experience. We call them “experts,” and defer to their opinion and assessment for engaging with the field in the future. At the same time, “experts” can also wield their power for ends that are less innovative or progressive. The same aura of experience that can ignite enthusiasm in consumers or investors by saying, “Sure, there’s no reason we can’t do that” can also stifle revolutionary thinking by claiming that advances “simply can’t be done.” When we hear an expert say it’s impossible, most of us can’t really argue.
This barrier of plausibility ends up being an industry excuse that bars advancement and sustainability encounters it all the time. Why is our water not cleaner? Why is public transit not fiscally self-sufficient? Why can’t we survive on only renewable energy? Because it simply can’t be done, or at least so we are told. Continue Reading…