My oversized coffee tells a story about experience, or rather, the lack of it.

This coffee in the photo makes me sad. It’s big, watery and served in a cappuccino cup.

Once upon a time in Melbourne, no self-respecting barista asked what size you wanted your long black – it was a specific, unchangeable beverage.

If you dared to offer advice on the coffee-to-water ratio, you’d be looked at like you’d just puked on their Chuck Taylors.

But when COVID hit, the baristas left – and with them went the institutional knowledge that made our coffee culture great. Suddenly, we were left with inexperienced hands pouring oversized cups of watery brown liquid.

It’s a metaphor worth applying more broadly.

When you remove a layer of experience – whether through COVID, the rise of AI, or budget cuts – you don’t just lose something. You lose a lot.

Society has long favoured the new and the young. That’s why, in Australia, it takes an average of 20 months for a mature-age worker to find a new job, compared to just 9 months for someone under 54. (Hat tip to Thinkerbell and their Thrive@55 internship program for tackling this.)

Business has always embraced new technologies and sought efficiencies – which is why many sectors are shrinking. Automation in manufacturing alone has reduced job opportunities by 7% over the past decade.

And economic downturns always leave a mark. 38% of businesses in Australia have reduced staff due to the cost-of-living crisis – further eroding hard-won institutional knowledge.

Experience is something to be passed on, not priced out. Because once you lose the experienced middle, you can’t easily rebuild it.

Sometimes it feels like we’re the frog in boiling water – slowly adapting to decline, unaware of what’s being lost.

So what am I saying? Eyes wide open, people.

Cut costs if you must. Embrace new tech. Back the next generation. But do it sustainably, with balance and intent.

Respect what experience brings – not just in years served, but in judgement, character, and calmness under pressure. These are the qualities that hold a business together when it’s tested.

When experience leaves the room, so too does resilience, perspective, and mentorship. And when all that’s left is energy and enthusiasm, things might run fast and cheap – but they rarely run deep.

So don’t settle for bad coffee and a room full of bots and teenagers.

Get the balance right.