Why Are We Letting Go of Experience?

Every week I see ex-colleagues and leaders in my network posting “open to work”—not for months, but years. These are the people who built the tech we now call AI, led digital transformation, and shaped entire industries. And it’s happening across marketing, ops, HR, finance, and more.

The Myths
“They don’t understand tech.”
“They can’t adapt.”
“They’re too expensive.”

Let’s be honest—none of this holds up. Experience isn’t a blocker to technology; it’s the multiplier. Who would you trust with your AI strategy—5 years of context or 25?

What I’m Seeing
• Senior leaders cut to save costs—only to create burnout, overwhelm, and shallow decision-making.
• Junior managers desperate for mentors.
• Organisations treating marketing/PR/comms as “digital tasks” instead of the connective tissue of the business.

A Supper in Switzerland
A business-owning relative shared their HR policy: hire skilled, experienced people—no age bias. Why? Because they want creative problem-solvers in the room, not after the meeting with an AI tool. They value patience, loyalty, resilience, and calm under pressure.
Their business continues to grow—even in downturns.

Meanwhile, across the UK and Europe, depth is being stripped away.

A Smarter Way to Work
• Balance cost with value—cutting depth erodes trust, culture, and strategy.
• Hire for experience + adaptability.
• Build mentoring into your structure.
• Treat marketing as systemic: every touchpoint is brand.

Why I Love Fractional Work

As a Fractional CMO, I bring senior depth to multiple businesses without the full-time cost—mentoring, guiding, and embedding strategy where it would otherwise be missing. It’s flexible, efficient, and simply smarter.

A challenge to CEOs and boards:
Are you truly saving costs—or hollowing out your organisation’s resilience, creativity, and leadership?

For more on this:

https://lnkd.in/ehtgt_xz

https://lnkd.in/ekZv5H4K