When Did Experience Become a Liability?

Recently, I had a conversation with a cultural advocate from an organization who raised concerns about the environment their employees face. A key issue was micromanagement from senior leadership, which created a stressful atmosphere where team members felt overworked, unheard, and undervalued. Despite efforts from a manager to shield her team, senior managers constantly intervened, making it difficult for her to lead effectively and support her team.

What was even more surprising was the cultural advocate’s response. Instead of addressing the micromanagement issue, she suggested the manager simply follow the senior leader’s direction, dismissing the value of the manager’s own experience. According to the advocate, the problem wasn’t the toxic culture—it was the manager's mistake of expecting her expertise and ideas to be acknowledged.

This raises an important question: Since when did having experience become a bad thing?

With that kind of attitude from a cultural advocate, I wonder—are they truly concerned about the challenges their teams face? Or are they just reinforcing the status quo, where new ideas and experiences are seen as disruptions?

How can organizations expect to evolve when they stifle the very innovation and experience that could help them grow?