--- title: The Gift of Experience description: In writing or reading this we need to ask ourselves a few questions. How many years of experience do we really have? It is often said, “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it”. However, what opportunities have we failed to realize because we are comfortable with the status quo? What industry classes have you attended recently? What business articles have you read recently? In short, are you a learner always willing to consider new things? Be the person who has more years of experience than the years you have worked. image: https://blog.aramsco.com/hubfs/The%20Gift%20of%20Experience.png --- - [Home](https://aramsco.com) - [Pro's Corner](https://blog.aramsco.com) [![Aramsco](https://blog.aramsco.com/hubfs/Aramsco_May2019/Image/logo.png)](https://www.aramsco.com/) - [Home](https://aramsco.com) - [Pro's Corner](https://blog.aramsco.com) - Account - [locations](http://aramsco-live.epicorcommerce.com/locations/) - [education](http://aramsco-live.epicorcommerce.com/education/) - [about us](http://aramsco-live.epicorcommerce.com/aboutus/) # Pro's Corner ## [The Gift of Experience](https://blog.aramsco.com/the-gift-of-experience) Posted by Tom Forsythe on Sep 16th 2024 After a recent NBA playoff game, one of the players attributed the result to the gift of experience. It is often said in sports that before you can win a championship, you need to lose—often several times—before you have learned enough to win. I have reflected on this statement and considered that experience can be both a gift and a curse. Decades ago, I worked for a company where the owner frequently talked about his 35 years of business experience. Over time, I noticed that the owner kept making the same mistakes. I concluded that he had only one year of experience repeated 35 times. In retrospect, I observe that if you do not learn and change from your experiences, then those years of experience are indeed wasted. It is only natural that as you age, you get comfortable with the status quo. In the business world, that can be a fatal error. As a chemist, I have watched some cleaning solutions remain unchanged for decades. For years, industry standards emphasized that a basic acidic spotter was necessary for tannin, coffee, and urine stains. However, specialized reducing and oxidizing agents were introduced to provide a chemical reaction that rendered the stain invisible. This was obviously a superior method, yet the belief in the necessity of the basic acidic spotter persisted. Based on market demand, we sold an acidic spotter called TCU. We revised the instructions and changed the name to TCU Neutralizer. Eventually, we also revised the formula, leading to Urine Neutralizer. The primary alkaline salt in urine is ammonia-based. Ammonia has a pH of around 12, but when the pH drops below 9, the odor disappears. In short, acids are beneficial in neutralizing alkaline salts from urine but not when used only as a spotter. We need to learn from that. Fortunately, I have worked for the same company, albeit under different ownership, for 25 years. Early on, the goal was always about building the next best thing. The original owners worked together for over 35 years and indeed had much more than 35 years of experience. I was fortunate to be part of a company where the next question was always asked, and the goals were always about the future. This value of learning from mistakes powered our company to achieve unexpected levels of influence. If you do not make mistakes, then you have never tried anything new. As a chemist, one benefit I had was that only the best formulas ever made it to the marketplace. The hundreds of trial formulas remain in our records. A few showed promise, so I was able to work through issues and eventually develop something marketable after a few years of effort. In short, innovation is a lot of hard work that does not always pay off quickly. We have a few formulas that were introduced ahead of their time. The concept was so advanced that we had to introduce the idea itself, not just the product. As regulations increase, we already have a few formulas ready to step in when current formulas are phased out. In writing or reading this, we need to ask ourselves a few questions: How many years of experience do we really have? It is often said, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it." However, what opportunities have we failed to realize because we are comfortable with the status quo? What industry classes have you attended recently? What business articles have you read? In short, are you a learner, always willing to consider new ideas? Be the person who has more years of experience than the number of years you've worked. 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