Ordinary Expert

AKA: Mediocrity.
Example(s):
- an Average Painter.
- an Average Programmer.
- an Average Doctor.
- …
Counter-Example(s):
- a Dilettante Expert.
- an Extraordinary Expert.
See: Subject Matter Expert.

References

(Heller, 1953) ⇒ Joseph Heller. (1953). “Catch-22: A Novel." Simon and Schuster.

Subject Headings: Catch-22 Situation, Double Bind, Black Humor, Absurdist Fiction, Satire, War Novel, Historical Fiction.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37108240
- In the novel Catch-22, the author Joseph Heller famously wrote: "Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them."
  He'd taken a quote by Shakespeare on greatness and turned it on its head. The implication was clear: mediocrity is a bad thing, to be avoided.
  Yet most of us go on to live what by most measures are pretty ordinary lives.
  So what's wrong with settling for mediocrity?

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mediocre#Adjective
- Ordinary: not extraordinary; not special, exceptional, or great; of medium quality;
  I'm pretty good at tennis but only mediocre at racquetball.

(Ericsson, 2004) ⇒ K. Anders Ericsson. (2004). “Deliberate practice and the acquisition and maintenance of expert performance in medicine and related domains.” In: Academic Medicine, 79(10).
- QUOTE: … Although everyone in a given domain tends to improve with experience initially, some develop faster than others and continue to improve during ensuing years. … In contrast, most professionals reach a stable, average level of performance within a relatively short time frame and maintain this mediocre status for the rest of their careers.

(Maugham, 1915) ⇒ W. Somerset Maugham. (1915). “Of Human Bondage." George H. Doran Company
- QUOTE: … "I wonder if it's worth while being a second-rate painter. You see, in other things, if you're a doctor or if you're in business, it doesn't matter so much if you're mediocre. You make a living and you get along. But what is the good of turning out second-rate pictures?" ...