On any given day I will tell you there are a lot of things I don’t know. That has never been clearer than during this design competition (see previous article here). I am working with two architects and two urban planners, it’s a really great group. However, even though both of those subjects are of personal interest to me it is become very clear that I know even less than I thought.

Do you ever have that feeling that what you do for a living or what you study isn’t that hard, that it is just obvious? I feel that way all the time about social media, public relations, even different kinds of research. Everything I have learned at grad school, while definitely interesting, just “makes sense.” I have learned that there is a big difference between something making sense and being common sense.

The jargon I hear coming from urban planners and architects is not what I am used to. Sure, when they explain things they make sense but they are definitely not common sense. No one could just wake up and decide they were an urban planner or architect and function in a professional society. I think the same thing goes with media communications.

It is easy to take for granted what we know. I mean we read the right blogs, we stay up on trends, we attend the right conferences (yeah Social Media Week Toronto!) and everything we learn seemingly makes  perfect sense. I guess what I am saying is perhaps I have not been giving myself enough credit. It took observing the expertise of others to appreciate the ways that I am an expert.