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In manufacturing there is an adage: Do you have 10 years of experience once or 1 year of experience 10 times. Have you been learning new skills, solving new problems, expanding your background or have you been doing the same things over and over again for the last 9 years? We will not understand the true scope of one’s experience if we fail to consider it for more than just its length of time.  What kind of experience is it? Have you delved deep into the fine details to master the intricacies of your craft? Do you understand all the other tasks that affect your work and in turn are affected by your work? By looking more closely and broadly at the skills you have acquired, you can determine your level of competence and develop what I call the “Superior Experience”. Continue reading “What Kind of Experience Do You Have?”

What do Indiana Jones, Ferris Bueller, James Bond, Barney Stinson, Angus MacGyver, Westley (as you wish!), Buckaroo Banzai, Tony Stark, Batman and many others all have in common? They are the Competent Man, a stock character of literature that’s best summed up by Lazarus Long, a character in Robert Heinlein’s novels.

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

— Robert Heinlein

What have you learned to do today?