Experience Matters

There truly no substitute for experience, but only the right experience.  We have worked with and known individuals who have worked the same job, performed the same function, lived in the same place and basically lived within the same small radius their entire life. In some ways, doing the same thing for that long makes you an expert in the details that go along with the daily grind of living and working. The benefit however only comes into play if that expertise can be taught, shared or ported to another similar circumstance. We have both worked at different places, doing different things, some as laborers, some with technology, some as leaders, for non profits, private companies, public enterprises and everything in between and here is what we have learned:

Doing something for a long time doesn't necessarily make you an expert, but never having done something does make you a rookie.

Experience in a lot of different things can make you more agile, flexible and better at problem solving than someone who has a ton of experience at doing one thing.

Just because someone hasn't done something before doesn't mean they won't be able to match people who have been doing it a long time.  Sometimes a fresh perspective and an individual with varied experience will tackle tasks in more efficient ways never thought of by those who have been doing them for a long time.

There are some things that one needs to do repetitively for a very long time to be an expert. Playing the cello for instance is not something where you can use prior experience unless it is with related musical instruments.

Most people learn more by doing than by reading, writing or listening about how to do something.

With this in mind our philosophy is to purposely find new things to gain experience in.  If we don't pick them up well or find the knowledge gained easily applied elsewhere then we try something else.  Some things that are worth the effort we stick with for the long haul, but don't try to do that with everything. Musical instruments are one of the things that take a lot of time and patience and an example of a longer term commitment to gaining experience. Being well rounded has consistently turned out to be of more benefit to us than being an expert in a single thing. Unfortunately we learned this concept by living life rather than in school where life lessons are often overlooked in favor of focused learning on specific concepts.