Clearly “book learning” is a critical first step to becoming effective at anything. But the effectiveness, potential, and the degree and value of contribution rise to a new level as relevant skills and experience are gained in a topical area. It is clearly important to “know” a subject, but it is more valuable to have applied that knowledge.
It is for this reason that The Open Group IT Specialist Certification (ITSC) program is based on an assessment of people skills, technical skills, and experience, not just tests of knowledge.