The Expert's Curse: When Expertise Becomes Your Blind Spot

Why Being a Beginner Might Be Your Secret Superpower

"What skills have you learned this year?"

I froze. The question came from my coaching client - someone who had paid me to help them grow their career. We'd been discussing their development plan when they flipped the script on me.

I'm supposed to be the expert here. I spent eighteen years at Amazon, rising from Support Enginner to Principal Engineer. I've coached hundreds of tech professionals. I've built a following teaching others how to advance their careers.

And yet.

My answer was embarrassing: I hadn't learned any substantial new tech skills this year. Sure, I'd gotten better at things I was already good at. I'd refined my technical knowledge. I'd improved my ability to teach others.

But actual new skills? The kind of uncomfortable learning that makes your brain hurt? Zero.

The irony wasn't lost on me. Here I was, an "expert" who had built a business around helping others grow, while I had stopped growing myself. Even worse, I had been blind to this stagnation until my client's innocen…