Statistics show that the amount of scientific data doubles every two years. At the same time, the impact of individual scientific articles is diminishing. This means that your ability to distinguish noise from signal becomes more important and at the same time more difficult.
With this in mind, how can you effectively gain useful knowledge? For example, if you want to build a high-performance team, how to start?
The first level is to access quick and readily available information. I call this shallow knowledge. Think of a YouTube video which explains in 5 minutes how to build a success environment for your team. You get immediate insights, but the insights may not be very deep, or even accurate.
The second level is reading books written by experts on the subject. This is deep knowledge: You absorb the condensed wisdom of many years of experience. This, however, takes time, and much of the information may not be relevant for the current issues you’re facing.
The third level is private access to personal knowledge: An expert Masterclass combines condensed insights with an opportunity to discuss the practical applications of your specific issues.
The guiding principle of gaining knowledge is that you need to go the next level when reaching a knowledge plateau: Watching more YouTube videos will not replace the knowledge you can gain from reading books, and expanding your reading list will not substitute personal access to content experts.
If you want to have more expertise, decide first which knowledge level you actually require. Then implement a strategy to get there with the least amount of effort.