Another borrowed idea, this time from a Stanford professor, John Ousterhout. Your speed trumps your initial starting point. Aptitude trumps experience. Speed of growth is more important than the starting point.
If you learn fast enough, you’ll be superior compared to someone who relies mostly on their initial starting point plus minor incremental growth.
Personally, I find this quite empowering; makes me think that I can do and learn anything as long as I have a good pace of learning/application.
Want to switch careers, fields, or start a new career altogether? No problem. Just need to start and keep a good pace. Pretty soon you’ll get better than a previous veteran who is not keeping pace.
Two variables – slope and time. Even if you have a good slope (i.e., rate of learning), you still need to give it time. Another corollary of why compounding over time is a serious force of growth.