The book How to Take Smart Note has a section titled ‘Became an Expert Instead of a Planner’, and the first sentence reads: ‘The moment we stop making plans is the moment we start learning’. In this context, an expert refers to someone who experiences, learns from doing and their mistakes, and builds muscle memories. I was confused when I first read this bold statement until I realised in what context the author made this claim.
Plans are for processes where order, reliability, and predictability are desired, such as production and software development. Expertise is for creative endeavours where inspiration is sought. You will only know what the finished paper will look like once you have built many solid arguments and experienced conflicts. Writing projects and painting fit into this category.
Being an expert is for learning, too. Many of us read books about productivity, business and self-improvement. If we truly master the essence of every bestseller, we would all have been working 4 hours a day, getting things done, building disruptive start-ups and earning millions. The reality is that we often learn from experiences, vicarious or direct, not from understanding or memorising the text from these books. We don’t touch fire because of our experience of being hurt and feeling the pain. It’s not because a book told us not to.
However, even the most creative activities can benefit from a certain level of organising. Planning can create a framework within which we don’t drift too far from our intent. The outline of an article is a plan (it may get refined as we learn more about the topic), and it serves as a logical structure that leads to clarity. Much creative work is to work within the boundaries. No one can create an interactive form with input validation rules in a printed magazine.