It’s a tale as old as time—or at least as old as LinkedIn. Job postings treat industry experience as a non-negotiable prerequisite, while communication professionals argue that the craft itself is the higher priority.
There is no denying that a writer who understands the nuances of, say, subsea engineering or fintech has a head start. But here is the distinction: Learning the “register” of an industry—the acronyms, the technical shorthand, the regulatory hurdles—is a linear task. It is a matter of vocabulary. This knowledge is crucial, but it is vertical; it lives in a silo.
However, the ability to discern strategic gaps, optimize a narrative, or bridge a cultural divide is a lateral competency. These skills require an intellectual flexibility that is forged across diverse portfolios. Much like a well-hedged investment strategy, the more varied the experience, the stronger the asset.
The industry expert is often a victim of the “Curse of Knowledge.”
Subject matter experts often struggle with the “Curse of Knowledge” (a term popularized by Steven Pinker in the context of writing and editing). It is a cognitive bias where an expert unknowingly assumes their audience possesses the same background they do. They become so immersed in the technical “What” that they lose sight of the human “Why.”
This is where the “outsider” holds a distinct advantage. The lateral skills of a seasoned communicator are exactly what is needed to break the curse and build the bridge to understanding.
Don’t just take my word for it. Communications researchers and experts have long championed the “Generalist” with the flexibility to look past technical specs to find what actually matters to stakeholders. As strategist Joanna Parsons notes, you don’t need to be the person who built the dots to understand how they should be connected to drive engagement. Similarly, Shel Holtz argues that a communicator’s true value lies in the lateral skill of aligning messaging with organizational objectives.
Effective communication is about addressing the friction generated by information and the experience of receiving it.
Bottom line is that effective communication was never about the volume of technical information. It is about addressing the friction of that information and architecting the experience of receiving it.
As a professional who bridges the gap between editorial rigor and communication strategy, coming up to speed on a new industry register is simply muscle memory—a core competency of adaptability. This hybrid expertise is what ensures the message actually works because it allows for rapid research and immediate synthesis, ensuring the core strategic message is never sacrificed to technical density.
Pinker, S. (2014). The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century.
Parsons, J. (2022). Internal Communications Strategy: A Step-by-Step Guide to Driving Engagement.
Holtz, S. (2015). Tactics are Not Strategy: The Case for the Strategic Advisor. IABC Academy.
ReadRewrite 
Makes sense? What do you think?