Understanding the Experience Algorithm
“There is no compression algorithm for experience”, says Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon Web Services. I see this quote replicated by a friend and scoff. Of course there’s no compression algorithm for experience. I have almost 20 years of experience, and it has provided me with most of my knowledge and capability! And then I get to thinking..
Asserting that experience cannot be compressed assumes two things. Firstly, that the quality of experience is fixed, and secondly the ability to learn from that experience is also fixed.
Putting aside that Jassy’s quote is in response to the ability for competitors to catch up to AWS (often this context is missed), we can challenge the assumptions of the more common interpretation that this refers to personal development. So can we compress personal experience?
The Algorithm
Let’s assume for a moment that the quality of experience — “exposure” — and what we can learn from that experience — “learning potential” — is not fixed. An equation might look like this:
Where x is experience, e is exposure, l is learning potential and t is time.
If we want to maximise our experience for unit time, we could aim to improve our exposure and what learn from it. Conversely, if we have poor exposure or do not put the effort into learning from it, we are not going to gain good experience over time. To put it another way:
20 years of poor experience is still poor experience
Let’s tackle how we can improve our exposure and learning potential.
Increase your exposure
Seek out challenges
There is comfort in doing the same thing again and again, but there’s also stagnation. Seeking out new challenges is a great way to improve your experience as well as gain satisfaction and enjoyment. You don’t have to be “the guy/girl that works on X”.
Find your own way
Not every project you work on will provide a new challenge, but that should not limit you. Spending a quiet moment or time at home looking into new technology or trying out something for fun can offer experience and inspire you. It’s incredible how often side projects provide skills you can use in your job.
Be curious
This is often said, but absolutely true. We spend our days surrounded by questions that are often unanswered. Next time you come across a technical limitation, design decision or hit the status quo, ask “why?” and more importantly, find out.
Improve your learning potential
Listen and act
Work, particularly in Tech, can require a high degree of focus. It’s easy to focus on doing, whilst simultaneously not listening, even if you think you are. I know this happens when I find myself repeating “Remember when I said..?”. Listen to others as you would hope to be heard, but also listen to yourself (see: Be curious).
Prepare the groundwork
Experience and inspiration absolutely can come out of nowhere. Maybe you get given a new project or get challenged by a new technology. However, this is more likely to happen, and you’re more likely to get the benefit, if you have a plan for learning and you’re adept at challenging yourself. Write some goals down, however brief, so you know where to start.
Ask yourself: ‘What do I wish I knew?’ — now learn it.
Your personal retrospective
Most dev teams will be used to retrospectives: an opportunity to review what went well and what didn’t for a given sprint/project. You can absolutely use the same approach for your own work. Take time to reflect on your work in an objective way: what went well and what would you do differently next time?
Conclusion
Time is indeed a fixed commodity that cannot be bought, nor can it be fast-forwarded (compressed). How we use that time, however, can dramatically affect the value of that time. In that sense, we have other compression variables we can maximise to improve our experience.
At THG, I’ve gained the understanding that compressing experience is possible, not through my years of experience, but through the culture THG instils and the learning opportunities it provides.
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