Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

We often have the experts looking up at someone atop the pyramid who simply doesn’t know much of what they are saying.

There is supposed to be an expertise pyramid. The lone person atop the pyramid has more expertise than all those below. That is how the person reached the top of the pyramid—their greater expertise.

The editor at (name a famous newspaper) is the smartest person at the newspaper. They have the experience, expertise, and perspective that is above everyone else at the newspaper. Since they work at the newspaper, they have greater expertise than everyone else in the community. That is how it works, right?

Increasingly, I see it upside down. The famous newspaper prints articles that are just plain silly. Someone who failed middle school science can see the logical flaws in the newspaper stories.

Another example was from a few years ago when the chief building designer for a large school district was corrected by the parent of a kindergarten student. The correcting parent was chief building designer for a multi-billion dollar international company. That company wouldn’t hire the school district’s building designer because the school district’s employee wasn’t competent enough.

The parent was rightly correcting the school district’s chief building designer. Hmm. There is that upside down pyramid again.

Perhaps I am told old for all of this. Perhaps I know too much or know more than I know I know (does that make sense?). Perhaps we have different pyramids these days or something like that.