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