“Tactics flow from a superior position.” — Bobby Fischer

Like any other living creature, humans have always depended on accurate perception to survive. It’s often unconscious, but it’s always there. We’re always assessing our environment. We don’t need this ability in the same way we did 10,000 years ago, but it still helps when we cross a road or meet someone for the first time.

It’s something everyone does, but some people are much, much better at it. They might be a tennis coach, an army general or a lab technician. The profession doesn’t matter, but they see things most of us can’t see. We think of these people as experts and we often don’t know how they get the results they do.

With their evaluations, they can quickly and accurately notice important things about reality.

The Art of the Evaluation

Cops, who might take “thirty different assignments in one shift”,¹ are expert evaluators. In his book 400 Things Cops Know, Adam Plantinga describes how he’d respond to a household that would alarm the rest of us. Looking around he’d think, “okay, the kids are dirty, but they seem unharmed. They’re likely neglected, not abused.” In other words, he might not like what he sees, but he doesn’t see a crime – the main thing he’s looking for.

Over time their evaluations become less “clunkily conscious”. Thinking less is a sign of a “true expert,”² says Iain McGilchrist: “When you start out … you have to learn and memorize and think consciously about many, many things. But by the time you’re a skilful physician or surgeon, a skilful chess player or a skilful pilot, you don’t think like that, because that would make you a very second-rate performer.”

The observations experts make can seem obvious after the fact. Anything that’s true will feel obvious in some sense. In The Bridge on the River Kwai, an engineer is asked to give his honest opinion on the bridge under construction. He sums up the problem in a few words. “I wouldn’t build it here. The Japanese couldn’t have picked a worse location. There’s no bottom. You see those piles? They’re sinking. Our chaps could drive those logs till doomsday and they wouldn’t hold.”

In The Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan points out signals that many troubled dogs show, such as heavy breathing (anxiety), a cool stare (aggression) or a raised paw (a warning). The owners might see these things too, but they simply don’t understand their significance. These aren’t special or unusual behaviours, but they are important.

A problem half-solved

Even though experts can see important things in an instant, it doesn’t mean they’re always right. It doesn’t mean a policeman can “peer into men’s souls and determine whether they are the guilty party”. Even the Dog Whisperer gets bitten. “I didn’t see that coming”, admits Cesar, after an aggressive labrador lunges at his hand.

Experts also face another, bigger problem: the rest of us. Their evaluations can lead to smart strategies and solutions, but someone has to execute. This is where the “real work” is.

• Military intelligence only matters if it’s backed up by guns and bombs.
• A tennis coach might know the secret to winning a Grand Slam, but will need to make sure his athlete sets his alarm on game day.
• An overexcited dog needs longer walks, but who’s going to do the walking?

Whether or not the expert sticks around to fix what they’ve found, at least the action is aimed in roughly the right direction. There’s lots of work to do, but it’s easier, and it won’t be wasted or going round in circles, because it flows from something true and important.

Also published on the Buddha Bike Substack

1. 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman – Adam Plantinga ↩︎
2. The Wisdom Of Intuition – Iain McGilchrist (YouTube) ↩︎