Meta-functional expertise
# Meta-functional expertise

Meta-functional expertise is the breadth of one’s strategically important knowledge. It differs from the traditional conceptualization of expertise, which is generally considered to be a great depth of knowledge in a defined area, and where thus experts are people who are distinguished as knowing a lot about a particular subject. Comparatively, a meta-functional expert is considered to be somewhat knowledgeable in many different areas but not necessarily an expert in any single domain.

## Compared to generalists

Someone high on meta-functional expertise is similar to a generalist in that they have a wide array of knowledge. However, where generalists know many different things meta-functional experts have enough depth of knowledge in each area to be considered knowledgeable by other members of their team at work.

## Results of meta-functional expertise

Individuals high on meta-functional expertise are:

* Better able to acquire social power at work because they can translate between specialists.
* More successful as entrepreneurs
* More innovative
* More likely to get promoted at work
* Better able to get information from people outside of their work team

Groups with more meta-functional experts on them perform better because they:

* Communicate better with one another and share more ideas
* Understand their surroundings better
* Gain knowledge external to the group more efficiently
* Are more innovative
