Why Experience Alone Is Not a Measure of Competence

One of the most dangerous assumptions in security is so normalised that most people don’t even notice it anymore.

We usually assume that the person who has been around the longest is the safest pair of hands.
But in practice, time served often becomes a substitute for actually knowing whether someone can handle what they’re responsible for.

That’s how risk quietly accumulates. Decisions get delegated based on seniority, not capability. Responsibility expands without being tested. Confidence gets mistaken for reliability. And when something goes wrong, the fallout lands on individuals even though the real issue was never individual in the first place.

This confusion doesn’t stay theoretical. It shows up operationally. In who gets promoted. In who gets trusted. In who carries liability when pressure hits. And in sectors like security, the gap between being “experienced” and being genuinely prepared can expose clients, organisations, and the public in ways that are hard to unwind.

And the uncomfortable part is that most systems keep reinforcing this pattern without ever naming it.

Where have you seen experience being treated as proof of capability in your own work?

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