Building Your Intelligence and Expertise

Understanding the difference between intelligence and experience isn’t just a theoretical exercise—it’s critical for hiring, team composition, and personal growth.

While the two often overlap, they serve different roles. Intelligence helps people adapt quickly, solve unfamiliar problems, and connect dots across domains. Experience brings depth, context, and ultimately builds the intuition that comes from repeated exposure to similar problems.

This post is about how to recognize the difference—and more importantly, how to cultivate both in yourself.

A moment of realization

This topic surfaced during a 1:1 with a team member who said, “I’m leaving it to the people smarter than me to make the right decisions,” referring to senior leadership's ability to make the right calls on product strategy.

It seemed innocuous enough—but this person is incredibly smart, adaptable, and has infectious energy and a positive attitude I wish I had more of myself. What they were really referring to wasn’t intelligence. It was experience—and there was an opportunity to learn.

It made me realize how often we conflate the two and how little we invest in cultivating them. Intelligence can help you learn fast, but it can’t substitute for the perspective and judgment that only time getting shit done brings.

Why it matters

We all start with different baselines—shaped by upbringing, environment, and opportunity. We’ve all probably worked with someone who just seems to “get it” instantly, while others need more reps to internalize the same lessons. But either way: anyone can take on hard challenges, grow, and adapt.

• Intelligence is an initial advantage, but without experience to anchor it, it can lead to premature conclusions.
• Experience is powerful in familiar territory, but doesn’t always transfer across domains.

The key is to proactively invest in both.

How to cultivate both

The most effective people I’ve worked with do four things well:

• They stay curious. They ask questions, read widely, and seek out feedback—even when they’re the most senior person in the room.
• They seek out difficult work. They intentionally take on challenges that stretch them and deepen their domain understanding.
• They reflect on what went well. It’s not just about repetition—it’s about seeking feedback, learning from it, adjusting, and improving.
• They build a “claim to fame.” They identify a domain they want to be known for, and they proactively seek out opportunities to deepen that expertise.

So ask yourself: what specific things are you doing—or should you start doing—to work on all of the above?

Learn from others

Surrounding yourself with highly intelligent, deeply experienced people is a huge force multiplier. Learning from others is one of the fastest ways to accelerate your own development.

• Look for people who are curious despite their experience.
• Pay attention to those who have thoughtful frameworks and approaches informed by both success and failure.
• Ask them how they think—and why.

Relatedly, when you’re hiring or building a team, don’t just look for smart generalists or deep experts in isolation—look for people who can grow into both. Those are likely future leaders and the carriers of institutional knowledge and culture.

Don't aim to be the smartest in the room, instead aim to be someone others turn to.

That’s how you know you’re doing it right: when people start seeking your perspective—not just because you’re smart, but because they want to learn from and leverage your expertise.