When Experience Becomes Technology – The Power of Expertise

In August 2023, the 225th Air Defense Squadron of the Western Air Defense Sector packed their bags for Guatemala. They weren’t bringing flashy new tech or revolutionary training modules.

They brought something far more valuable: nearly 50 years of combined experience. The team conducted briefings and live drills to enhance the Guatemalan Air Force’s capabilities, proving that sometimes the most potent asset is simply knowing what you’re doing.

But here’s what’s interesting – this principle isn’t confined to military barracks or radar screens. Across fields from operating theatres to trading floors, the depth of experience consistently outperforms modern simulators and shortcuts.

The Value of Experience

Compounding expertise works like compound interest, except instead of money growing, it’s your ability to spot problems before they happen. Small, incremental lessons pile up over years to create advantages that can’t be rushed or downloaded.

Unlike one-off certifications or artificial intelligence (AI) tools promising instant mastery, true expertise builds gradually. It rests on four pillars: pattern recognition, risk calibration, measured innovation, and institutional memory.

Nowhere do those four pillars pay off more dramatically than in the operating theatre, where split-second calls can be life or death.

Pattern Recognition in Surgery

Surgery demands the ability to recognise complex anatomical patterns and anticipate complications that might emerge during procedures.

After all, the human body isn’t exactly known for following textbook diagrams – it’s more like a crowded street map drawn by someone who’s never seen a straight line.

This requires pattern recognition skills that develop over years of hands-on practice. Dr Timothy Steel provides an example of how sustained surgical practice builds this expertise.

During his 21 years as a consultant neurosurgeon at St Vincent’s Private and Public Hospitals, he has performed more than 2,000 brain operations and 8,000 minimally invasive spine procedures. This volume of work allows him to detect micro-bleeds and vertebral anomalies that might elude less experienced practitioners.

His approach to adopting new surgical tools is cautious and evidence-based. He evaluates new technologies against stringent criteria and integrates only those with clear clinical benefits into his practice.

Virtual reality (VR) training simulations are advancing rapidly. But they can’t yet replicate the tactile feedback of real tissue or the split-second decisions required when something goes wrong.

Dr Steel’s experience shows how sustained practice creates judgement that no simulator can match.

This principle of risk management through accumulated experience isn’t limited to surgery. It’s equally vital in environments where financial decisions carry massive consequences.

Risk Management in Finance

Financial markets are notoriously unpredictable – one day you’re a genius, the next day you’re explaining to shareholders why your ‘sure thing’ just became a very expensive lesson. Navigating these cycles requires leaders who can calibrate risk based on hard-won experience.

Effective risk management strategies become essential for maintaining stability when markets decide to throw their periodic tantrums.

Since 2018, David Solomon has worked on this approach as Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs.

The firm has refocused on investment banking, trading, and wealth management, a shift that aligned with stronger earnings and share-price stability. Solomon’s internal restructuring streamlined decision-making and shifted capital towards advisory and underwriting services.

Solomon’s decisions draw on lessons from past financial crises, particularly the 2008 crash. His tenure through multiple market cycles has honed a crisis-response instinct – invaluable when markets throw those periodically irrational tantrums.

Julie Hollinshead, an Adjunct Professor of Finance with 30 years in the field, highlights the rigorous path to achieving the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation: “The CFA is the gold standard if you’re going to be involved with investments.

You must pass three levels of exams and have the required amount of work experience. Less than 50% pass each level of exam, so it is a very difficult certification to achieve.”

While fintech offers rapid innovations, Solomon’s cautious approach has shielded Goldman Sachs from overexposure in volatile markets.

His seasoned judgment in financial leadership mirrors the same principle we see in other complex industries – including mining, where innovation must be balanced with strategic foresight.

Innovation in Mining

Mining companies face a perpetual balancing act: embrace new technologies or risk falling behind, but move too fast and you might find yourself with very expensive equipment doing very little actual mining. It’s like installing a new engine in a car that’s already barreling down the highway.

Strategic innovation management involves weighing potential benefits against operational risks to ensure alignment with long-term objectives.

Mike Henry shows this measured approach as CEO of BHP since 2020. With over 30 years at the company, his leadership has involved strategic shifts, including plans to sell BHP’s oil and gas business and transition Chilean copper mines to renewable energy.

Henry also dismantled the firm’s dual listing structure, consolidating into a single market to simplify governance and capital management. His US$49 billion bid for Anglo American – ultimately unsuccessful – reflected a deliberation honed over decades of deal work.

While newcomers might chase every technological trend, Henry’s deep operational knowledge helps set boundaries for responsible innovation. His experience ensures technological adoption serves strategic goals rather than becoming an expensive distraction.

From giant excavators to precision mould-making, the same story unfolds when seasoned hands meet shiny new tools.

Craftsmanship Over Algorithms

Kurt Anderson, a veteran mould designer at Crescent Industries, has decades of experience in custom tooling projects. His expertise shapes every decision he makes in the design process.

Anderson once overruled a simulation tool’s recommendation when it failed to identify a sink-mark risk. His instinct, developed through years of practice, prevented what could’ve been a costly production delay.

Even advanced software needs a craftsman’s eye to reach its full potential. Anderson’s experience bridges the gap between theoretical models and practical application. It proves that algorithms work best when guided by human judgement.

And beyond individual craftspeople, entire organisations rely on long memories to thread lessons through their work.

Institutional Memory

The Edward J. Stemmler M.D. Medical Education Research Grants have awarded 105 grants totalling US$10.7 million over 30 years. These grants support long-term educational research projects that require sustained funding to create meaningful change.

Projects at institutions like the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and New York University Grossman School of Medicine (NYU Grossman) have developed clinical-competency assessment standards and enhanced physician-patient communication curricula.

The programme’s longevity allows for deep, systemic improvements rather than surface-level changes.

Richard Vander Heide reflects on career transitions as he assumes his role as chair of the Department of Pathology at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed): “There are successes and failures over any career.

The lessons I have learned from those experiences hopefully will bring benefit to me, the department, and the broader WMed community in my new role.” His words capture why long timelines matter in embedding expertise.

Short-term training grants often spark pilots but rarely drive systemic change. The Stemmler Grants show how sustained funding creates lasting impact – a principle that applies whether you’re developing medical curricula or building organisational capability.

All that deep recall meets its counterpoint in the world of rapid accelerators – but that’s where speed and depth must learn to dance.

Speed and Depth

AI tools, bootcamps, and certificates have their place. But they can’t replicate the nuanced judgment developed over years of practice. Surgery, finance, mining, design, and education all show where rapid approaches hit their limits.

The most effective approach combines digital accelerators with decade-long mentoring, cross-cycle project rotations, and sustained funding. This blend delivers both speed and depth in problem-solving.

Organisations that master this integration – marrying rapid innovation with deep expertise – will tackle the next era of complex challenges most effectively. The slow accumulation of craft remains irreplaceable.

That blend of patience and pressure brings us full circle to the Slow Edge – where time earns its true value.

The Slow Edge

Pattern recognition, risk calibration, measured innovation, and institutional memory – all developed over decades – deliver results no crash course can match.

Remember that squadron we met in Guatemala? They weren’t carrying cutting-edge gadgets or revolutionary manuals. They brought something far more valuable: the accumulated wisdom of nearly half a century.

What single lesson will you commit to passing on? In our rush for new tools and quick fixes, the slow accumulation of craft remains the ultimate differentiator. Sometimes the most advanced technology is simply knowing what you’re doing.