When is experience not OK?

I recently posted an update that (1) reflected on just how many decades I have been an IT professional and then (2) how my average stay at any one company was just over 5 years versus the more common occurrence highlighted in LinkedIn profiles of fewer than 2 years. I initially put this down to the field of IT I was in – mission critical system deployment.

This lead to the question whether experience counted or not? Does a career spanning many decades imply you have seen it all and are less likely to be fooled by the latest trend or fad or rather, does it simply mean that you are just, well, old. Yes, I started my career in my teens and caught the very end of one decade even as we are now in another so that pads out the career stats quite a bit. Wisdom then is a two-edged sword within IT – the wise are all-knowing but then, when dealing with the unknown, doesn’t this put them in the same camp as the foolish? “Let’s just try it and see …”

For better or worse clouds are a passing fad that eventually will become ubiquitous and not worth mentioning! Hybrid IT too is transitory providing value only through the transformation cycle. So the message I always try to communicate is to plan for what’s coming after what you are working on today. The only time experience can be wrong is if it is “weaponized” – used to support a position for no other reason than well, to sound wise!

So, don’t write-off those years too quickly and don’t sacrifice you time in an industry for the sake of a new fad. Instead, turn those years of experience to your advantage and help those who really do struggle to comprehend when IT is taking them as after all, it’s never been about the destination as it’s never been anything more than a fleeting zephyr.