How important are qualifications, really?
26 October 2006I often find it really interesting when someone mentions time, expense, or qualifications as the primary reason for why you should listen to someone and heed their counsel.
This is really an extension of the sunk cost fallacy, being that if we’ve put time, energy or expense into something it has to have value, but that’s really not true. I, for one, have a Bachelor of Science degree from a prominent Irish University. Sometimes I like to say this as it does sound very impressive. But unfortunately it’s not in something like Biochemistry which would require hours upon hours of diligent research. No, it’s in Sports Management: A degree from which many of my peers returned to further education the September after graduating. Most of them in Business or Marketing degrees.
I’ve met qualified hypnotherapists who’ve been the most frightened, intimidated and insecure people you could ever meet. It didn’t exactly fill me full of confidence in their abilities to help me (or their clients) in any way. I’ve had similar experiences with black belts, life coaches, doctors and virtually every other profession you could imagine.
I understand that there are reasons for qualifications and certificates. If someone has a program and wants to train someone up to a level, a qualification seems like a good idea. We train someone to a standard and to let everyone else know they’ve the same level of knowledge as us we certify them. This system really begins to breakdown when we get into mass certification and testing.
Usually the test aims to replicate the circumstances. The tests, however, for a lot of courses, aren’t testing your ability to apply this in real life, but moreso you’re ability to recall and regurgitate information. I understand that higher levels of education, such as PhDs are designed to produce original research, but there are still drawbacks to this. One being that one has to have the ability to communicate the information inside their head in a way that the recipient can understand. Anyway, having the most knowledge on the subject is no guarantee that you’re the best person to teach, or that you can get across that information to another in any useful way.
Communicating ideas and information is essentially what I do here. Since I’m essentially a teacher/nurturer at heart, I probably include too much detail in my writings for some areas, and not even in other areas. I tend to focus, as I’d imagine all writers do, on what’s important from their point of view to get across to the audience, and not what’s important from the audience’s Point of View. Actually, that’s somewhat of a lie. I do think about what the audience needs to know. But, again this is coming from my perspective. The writing is based on what I think the audience needs/wants, not what my audience thinks it needs or what the audience is expecting from the title. But this is probably a drawback to all forms of communication and education.Certificates and Qualifications and any sort of printed credentials also serve another purpose – ego gratification. People are going to be impressed more by a degree from Harvard than they are from a community college. But ten years down the line, or even less, there’s no guarantee the person who went to Harvard would be better suited to help you than the community college graduate.
Most qualifications never call for the person to be retested. If you have a university degree, you have it for life. The ICF does require coaches to either move up a level or lose their qualifications, which is a step in the right direction. But, even this is an imperfect system. Any manner of bulk testing will have flaws in the standards of its graduates. I don’t have a solution for this.So what’s a good judge of whether someone is valuable for you? Well, it depends on the context! Obviously!If it’s just advice, I suggest trying to take it at face value. Most people dismiss unsolicited advice straight away, usually claiming that the other person hasn’t followed their own advice. “You’re one to talk†being a common rebuttal. Also, ask yourself if it’s your ego preventing you from listening to the advice? Are you not going to listen to them because they’re too old, or too young, or don’t know you well enough, or because their circumstances are different? Of course, your ego will also stop you from admitting that you’re wrong (at least, in public anyway) or taking advice from a friend because that would change the power balance in a relationship.
With regards any sort of professional relationship and whether to enter into it. Really I advise trusting your intuition. Judge the professional on the benefits they can deliver. In all my time coaching martial arts, I have never been asked what qualification I hold until after I’ve coached someone or their child for quite some time. They’re usually more concerned if I can answer their questions and that other athletes of mine have medalled in competition than if I have a certificate from SBG.
Personally I think this is a good thing. What’s more important anyway? That your teacher/therapist/coach got the latest certificate from some professional body, or that they brought you closer to your goal than you were before you worked with them?
I’m always surprised at what teachers the universe sends my way. If I blocked out the messages from these people because they weren’t qualified I most certainly wouldn’t be here.
One Response to “How important are qualifications, really?”
December 15th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
Hey Colm,
Great Blog. You’re absolutely right about qualifications.
I got so sick of society’s measurement of intellegence that I created my own scale:
“Have you ever wondered why some people can be so ‘intelligent’ with some things and so ’stupid’ with others?
Like the guy who can build a nuclear missile from four coat hangers, an old bath and some gaffa tape, but can’t string three words together when he’s introduced to a girl.
Or the woman who can speak eight languages, split the atom and recite the Old Testament, but can’t understand basic humour.
“Why would someone do that to a chicken anyway?”
I have a friend who is a genius with computers.
In fact, all technology.
No formal training, just knows how to fix stuff.
If he’s never seen a phone like yours, he’ll re-program it and show you how to cook a roast with it, in two minutes.
But give him a baby to hold for thirty seconds and he’ll look like you’ve just handed him a live grenade.”
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