Don’t Rely on Credibility Stamps

the the truth nobody wants to say out loud is that most people with authority didn’t earn it.

they inherited it.

they faked it.

they politicked their way into it.

they sat in meetings, approved other people’s work, & called it “leadership.”

they were great at navigating the game of perception.

they were terrible at building anything real.

and now the ... See more

process of accreditation, usually entailing many years of higher education. Persons in authority have had to jump through hoops of fire to achieve their lofty posts—and feel disinclined to pay attention to anyone who has not done the same. Lasting authority, however, resides in institutions rather than in the persons who act and speak on their beha

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In a world where talent is globally distributed, where we’re losing confidence in the power of our credentialing institutions, a cosign can make all the difference.

It’s relatively easy to make and distribute educational content. Even high-cost content isn’t hard to replicate; it’s just expensive. However, the scarcity in the education world isn’t the advice itself, but rather the credibility behind it: The credibility of being someone at the top of your field takes a lot of work. It’s hard — dare I say imposs... See more

The world of expertise has flipped. Before the internet and social media, expertise was functionally scarce. Now, it’s readily abundant, and it really is possible to read an expert credibly criticizing a New York Times article on Twitter.

Writers can no longer depend on default credibility. Quoting a couple of experts and linking a few studies isn’... See more