Beginner’s Luck
by Kyluke McDougall, 10:00 AM - Monday 16/06/2014The youth gives us what the older generation cannot, in a world that is constantly changing.
We have all often heard the term “beginner’s luck” but how many of you know that this is an actual theory? A lot of us probably don’t. I just thought it was always an expression to brush off a novice coming into a game/situation and doing something the the rest of us can’t; I thought they just got lucky, but it intrigued me.
How can somebody knowing so little about something produce such exceptional results? Most “professionals” take years to master a skill and here comes this little **** and seemingly takes them back to school.
Well, as it turns out, there is something to it. You see, a professional will try and learn everything there is to learn about the subject, even it’s limitations. This knowledge is important because he will use this experience to make his decisions, but he will also apply all the limitations that he has experienced to this new situation. This is where a novice has the upper hand, they do not yet know the limitations, so they are free to take bigger risks than the professional because he is unaware that it may fail horribly.
So the novice takes the path that the professional will not, purely because of ignorance but the risk can pay off.
This is almost exactly how I see the youth today in the land of the businessman. Unknowingly taking risks that the older generation will not because they do not have the limitations that the older generation has created for themselves. The friction caused by this can be severe but if you just let us do our thing, guide us, but let us make the choices you would not normally make, we can make a difference.
Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beginner%27s_luck
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