Technicians and Innovators
In all fields of endeavor there are varying degrees of proficiency. I like to make two general classifications: Technician and Innovator.
Technicians are those who have some on the job training/education/shooling and have developed a set of tools with which they ply their trade. I oversimplify this as matrices of varying complexity. A trite example would be a doctor who takes his patients symptoms and looks in his matrix of what he has seen works best/learned in medical school/the pharmaceutical rep said, "worked just super duper" and prescribes a treatment.
An advanced technician collects data on the success of his matrix and tries to improve it.
Innovators are those who have mastered all the base material and understand the entire system. They have read all the books, articles, news old and current, everything they can get their hands on that even remotely applies. He reads articles that he knows are very similar to the one he re-read for the 15th time last night just with the hope that it might shine the light on one of the obscure corners of his understanding.
Again the doctor example. He understands the complex relationships between the organs, bones, nerves, chemistry, electrical fields, medications, patient's will power, current physical and mental condition, etc. He can see the true problem and therefore also can see the better solutions.
Innovators create entirely new tools and make connections previously unseen. Sadly, the ratio of technicians to innovators is extremely high. I cannot claim to be among the latter.
Technicians are those who have some on the job training/education/shooling and have developed a set of tools with which they ply their trade. I oversimplify this as matrices of varying complexity. A trite example would be a doctor who takes his patients symptoms and looks in his matrix of what he has seen works best/learned in medical school/the pharmaceutical rep said, "worked just super duper" and prescribes a treatment.
An advanced technician collects data on the success of his matrix and tries to improve it.
Innovators are those who have mastered all the base material and understand the entire system. They have read all the books, articles, news old and current, everything they can get their hands on that even remotely applies. He reads articles that he knows are very similar to the one he re-read for the 15th time last night just with the hope that it might shine the light on one of the obscure corners of his understanding.
Again the doctor example. He understands the complex relationships between the organs, bones, nerves, chemistry, electrical fields, medications, patient's will power, current physical and mental condition, etc. He can see the true problem and therefore also can see the better solutions.
Innovators create entirely new tools and make connections previously unseen. Sadly, the ratio of technicians to innovators is extremely high. I cannot claim to be among the latter.
posted by The petulant ninny at 1:36 PM
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