There are a number of questions or issues that will surface in exploring someone’s expertise initially. Your discoveries in response to any of these could provide direction for how to proceed.

Questions about the knowledge

• Is there a database?
  Knowledge often rests on a foundation of some set of data intimately understood by the Expert. It might be a database of funding sources, experts in the field, case examples, relevant case law, Federal statutes, and so on.
• What is its structure? Is it a simple list? Or a relationship database? Or is it a node-link structure (such as a network)?
• How is the database updated? How are erroneous entries found?
• How is the database stored? Is it in the mind of the Expert? In a file? Is it shared by a network of players?
  For example, there is a rich storehouse of case materials spread out among the Fair Hearing officers throughout the counties of California. Having good relations with those officers is the only way to “plug into” the database.
• Is there a regular sequence of steps?Work process is a powerful tool for capturing knowledge, but it is only useful if there is repeated sequence of steps that routinely produce the desired outcome. If the “process” is different every time, or re-created from scratch every year, then a classical work flow characterization would be misleading.
• Is the knowledge applied only in certain situations?
  For some knowledge the key is not “how to do it” but “when to do it”. For example, providing instruction is a common skill, but taking the role of the instructor at the wrong time could damage relationships and undermine credibility.
• Does the knowledge involve a network?
  Sometimes the obstacle to developing expertise is having to learn the extent and the complexities of a network of organizations or issues or people. For example, individual decisions to fund a program happen in a maze of funders, political priorities, budgets, strategic commitments, and personal loyalties. Having an eye for the whole network may be the key skill to securing a positive decision. A myopic focus on “grant writing” would miss the wisdom behind the skill.
• Are there some essential judgements?
  Not all work is merely following instructions. Often there is an unavoidable judgement to make, one that requires experience, wisdom, or subtlety. Such judgements are often difficult for the Expert to explicate. They may be able to recount examples, without being able to unravel the keys to making the judgement. This is often a source of frustration to the Learner, who can see the skill right in front of them, but cannot replicate it on their own.
• Are there some archetypal examples or cases?
  Especially for tacit knowledge, examples are often easier to find than any abstract description of the knowledge. Most experts can recall one or two times when they were “in the flow” or “right on the ball” and performed in an exemplary way. They can most certainly remember their more spectacular failures. And even more instructive are the cases that lie right on the boundary between successful and unsuccessful performance. Collecting and reflecting on cases may be a strong substitute for some kind of reconstruction. They may shorten the learning time for the Learner.

Questions for the Expert

Experts are often brilliant in their performance but only mediocre in their insight or even awareness of how they perform so well. It is the job of the Interviewer to help the Expert reflect on and illuminate the bases for their reputation.
• When did you first feel like you were an Expert?
  Even when Experts have trouble identifying what they know, they can oftentimes identify how or when they learned it. That is, they may know the key conference or the case where they suddenly felt “in the know”.
• Are there key relationships which support your performance?

How were those relationships established?
How do they impact your performance? How would you stumble if those relationships were lost?
What is the basis of those relationships? Expertise? Shared experience? Similar goals? External validation? Personal disclosure?In other words, if I wanted to created similarly useful relationships, where should I attend?

• If you had to train your replacement, what would you do with them?

Source: Jerry Talley and Laleh Shahidi