The 23-Year Ceiling: Why Tenure Is Not Always Expertise
The projector hums at a frequency that feels like it is drilling into the base of my skull. It is a persistent, 63-hertz whine that nobody else seems to notice. I am sitting in Conference Room 3, obsessively rubbing a smudge off my phone screen with the edge of my sleeve. I’ve been at it for at least 13 minutes. Every time I think I have cleared the oil away, a tiny iridescent streak reappears under the harsh fluorescent lights. It is a distraction, a way to avoid looking at Rick, who is currently dismantling the future of our department with a single, practiced sigh.
Experience Metrics: Depth vs. Duration
Data Visualization: Duration does not equate to applicable knowledge.
Rick has been with the company for 23 years. In this office, that number is treated with the kind of reverence usually reserved for ancient religious relics. If Rick says a process is sound, it is etched in stone. If Rick says a technology is a fad, it is dead on arrival. He is the ultimate gatekeeper, the sovereign of the legacy stack. But as I watch him cross his arms, I realize that Rick doesn’t actually have 23 years of experience. He has one year of experience that he has repeated 23 times, like a broken record that thinks its skip is a rhythmic
















