Someone with vision will always outperform someone with experience.
Experience is great! People learn wonderful things through their actions and through ‘trial and error’. People with experience should be treated as coveted assets by any business. The knowledge seasoned individuals have is an intangible value that must be respected and appreciated by every organization.
That said, people with experience will always be left in the dust by someone with vision. Too often, people with vast experiential knowledge fall victim to the Curse of ‘How we’ve always done it’.
Innovation rarely comes from seasoned, established individuals. Its not the fault of people who have years of experience, it is because they are too close to the problem to see the large solutions. Game changing innovations are most often discovered by people with vision.
Whether its a vision of how things could be, a vision of whats missing, whats cumbersome, or whats being done in different industries, these step changes happen when new ideas are applied to old methodologies.
Hiring or retaining people with experience is a sound business decision in any field. It is a guarantee of sustainability and dependable results. However, if an organization desires to be the best in class they will need to flip over the table of conventional thinking and start looking for ways to change. Change the expectations of your clients, customers, or guests. Change the way you provide your products or services. Change the idea of what serving your clientele looks like.
Innovation will only come from those willing to look beyond what has historically worked.
Every person should ask themselves 3 questions about their business:
What are we doing in our business that is exactly like our competitors?
Why are we doing it that way?
How can we change to move away from how we’ve always done it?
Don’t be cursed by ‘How we’ve always done it’. Instead looks for ways to set trends and build something truly special.
Stay passionate and stay engaged!