> the disdain comes from the fact that in my time in the classroom, I was constantly given advice on how to do my job from people who either had never done my job themselves
I’ve been in tech for ~20 years, and if there’s one thing that never changes, it’s that newcomers are eager to tell me how to do my job.
Fresh grads come in convinced it’s their time to shake things up.
Management brings in consultants to tell me how to do my job.
The new SVP comes in and tells me how to do my job despite not understanding the environment, etc.
Over the years I’ve found it far more useful to frame this kind of feedback as just another signal among a myriad of signals, which collectively can be quite valuable.
It seems common to any human organization, especially those that rely on specialized skills, and I’d argue that the outcome is similar: just as experience and deep understanding can be important for stability, questioning the status quo can be just as critical for navigating societal change and long term success.
I’m here to argue against the binary position, not to claim that newcomers should be running the show.
I’ve been in tech for ~20 years, and if there’s one thing that never changes, it’s that newcomers are eager to tell me how to do my job.
Fresh grads come in convinced it’s their time to shake things up.
Management brings in consultants to tell me how to do my job.
The new SVP comes in and tells me how to do my job despite not understanding the environment, etc.
Over the years I’ve found it far more useful to frame this kind of feedback as just another signal among a myriad of signals, which collectively can be quite valuable.
It seems common to any human organization, especially those that rely on specialized skills, and I’d argue that the outcome is similar: just as experience and deep understanding can be important for stability, questioning the status quo can be just as critical for navigating societal change and long term success.
I’m here to argue against the binary position, not to claim that newcomers should be running the show.