Experience vs. Openness (Part two)

Today, we’ll sketch a simple framework — almost like a checklist — so we can see how to decide when to trust experience versus when to challenge it. This, of course, will be affected by our personal threshold of risk. Still, it’s a quick 3‑step flow that we can run through in real time. 

Step 1 — Asks: “Is this familiar?” If the situation resembles something we’ve faced before, the experience is a strong and reliable guide. If, on the contrary, it feels new or unprecedented, we should take a good pause before applying old solutions. 

Step 2 — Ask: “Does my past fit the present?” Check whether the context has changed (technology, people, culture, timing). If it’s not the case and the environment is different, experience may bias us toward outdated answers. 

Step 3 — Ask: “What’s the cost of being wrong?” If the stakes are low, experiment that option, try something new and see where it leads us. If the stakes are high, we still need to lean more on proven experience — but still invite fresh input. 

This exercise should show us that on balance, if experience is the guardrails we need, it does keep us safe, efficient and resilient. On the other hand, openness means a growth opportunity to keep us adaptive, curious and innovative. 

The not-so-obvious conclusion (or the “art” in this exercise) is knowing when to let one lead and the other support. We could think of it like walking with two tools: experience as our compass and openness as our map. The compass keeps you oriented, but the map shows new terrain.