Are you good at doing things for the first time? There has certainly been a fair share of that this year and you might call that a beginner’s mind, but when I spoke to Copenhagen-based consultant Mathias Jakobsen, it quickly became clear that being good at doing new things is extremely valuable, takes special skills and that this whole ‘beginner's mind’ is a misunderstood concept.

Usually, an expert has done things thousands of times and has the experience to predict how things will pan out. Doing something for the first time is different. It clearly requires additional attention to what’s actually happening. Unlike a traditional expert, say an experienced accountant or HR professional, you can’t to the same degree predict the outcome. Observing and adjusting along the way is key.

Given what’s happened this year, where few predicted the pandemic, it only seems fitting to have Mathias Jakobsen as our expert of the month. You may like it or not, but 2020 has clearly made the strong case for a different approach and different skills.