Experience is not just a number!

“𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 100 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.”
It’s a common line in consulting and business pitches. And it’s not wrong.
But the number alone can be misleading.
Fifty people with two years of experience each also bring 100 combined years.
Five people with twenty years of broad, varied experience each bring the same number.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲.

In the first case, experience may be spread across many people, each having seen a relatively narrow part of the problem space.
In the second, it may be concentrated in a smaller group who have carried responsibility through different projects, constraints, failures, recoveries and unusual situations.
𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

So next time someone leads with a big combined-years figure, the better question isn’t:
“How many years?”
It is:
“How many people, and what did each of them actually see?”

#Consulting #BusinessAdvisory #Experience #Manufacturing #EPC