Slightly Askew

No experience necessary?

Monday, July 28th, 2008

Huddle ten web designers together. Ask them to build you a website.

Then huddle a website designer, a taxi driver, a child, a grandmother, a butcher, baker, and candlestick maker, an accountant, and a student together. Ask them to build you a website.

Which group builds the most innovative website?

The ten web designers undoubtedly are the most experienced group. They’re the group that most business owners would put their faith in. It’s the safe group to choose.

But I’m not so sure that experience is always the best option. (Let it be said: I prefer my pilots with plenty of experience. And my dentists.)

Experience is a very useful thing. But with experience often comes the status quo. How many times have you sat next to a new recruit who nods at every opportunity and babbles: “yeah, that’s how we used to do it at [company name] too”?

How good will someone be at a job because they’ve done it before?
How interested?
How hungry?

Apparently, Southwest Airlines won’t employ people who have experience at another airline unless they’re convinced the potential recruit can unlearn all those bad habits (again, let’s hope this doesn’t extend to the pilots).

Is it silly to ignore these experienced people? Well, Southwest Airlines have been consistently profitable for 35 years – you argue it with them.

So if you’re planning on being different, growing an enthusiastic workforce, and reaping the rewards – ask yourself how much experience you really need.

In the wrong hands, experience becomes competence. Before you know it, you’ve gone from competent to adequate. And being adequate is something to avoid.