I believe it’s time to examine the foundations of our society and ask ourselves whether the way we organize power still serves us. We’ve built an entire culture around the idea that a title confers competence, and in doing so, we’ve sidelined the people whose hands-on expertise really moves the needle. Somewhere along the line, we lost sight of the fact that leaders should be able to step into every role beneath them and still add value. That loss has warped our businesses, our institutions, and our national character. It’s high time for a passionate, no-holds-barred reset.

In the earliest days of any venture, the person at the top oftentimes did every job under the sun. The founder sold the product door to door, handled the bookkeeping late at night, patched equipment, and swept the floors. That direct line between vision and execution ensured values, standards, and techniques passed seamlessly from one generation of workers to the next. Apprentices learned by watching and doing, and veterans taught them the trade without a thick layer of bureaucracy or ill-defined job descriptions.

Today, by contrast, critical know-how trickles away with each promotion. Managers focus only on the tasks their titles prescribe, neglecting the deeper mechanics of the work they once mastered. As they ascend, the technical skills that once grounded them slip through the cracks, never to reappear. Without anyone to correct their assumptions or remind them of best practices, they build layers of red tape and processes that confuse newcomers and choke innovation. The result is a sprawling tangle of inefficiency, empty badges, and a growing disconnect between strategy and execution.

Inevitably, technology reshapes the rules of the game faster than ever, making the old excuse “we’ve always done it this way” lose credibility by the day. New ways of thinking are not only encouraged; they’re essential to keeping any organization healthy, whether in business, politics, or beyond. Everyone has something to contribute, from seasoned veterans with deep institutional memory to digital natives fluent in emerging tools. By involving every generation, we ensure that innovation stays grounded in hard-won wisdom rather than vanishing with each upgrade. 

Even more troubling is how privilege often eclipses proven ability. Too many people in charge never earned their seats at the table through grit or ingenuity; they arrived by accident of birth, race, legacy admissions, or the prestige of a diploma from the right institution. Consider the politicians who boast they could out-perform our seasoned veterans without ever having enlisted, or the corporate executive who claims mastery of a technical field yet has never rolled up his sleeves. We assume credentials guarantee competence, only to discover those credentials sometimes rest on hollow foundations.

Our national complacency compounds the problem. We’ve grown so comfortable hearing about political gridlock, economic inequality, or social unrest that most Americans never feel compelled to solve these issues firsthand. We cheer from the sidelines, clicking “share” on articles that lament the state of affairs, but few of us pick up a broom and sweep away the rubble. This emotional distance dulls our collective appetite for reform and lets systemic failures fester unchecked.

Right now, our national engine idles because we value money over mastery. We slash budgets for hands-on training, we hollow out mentorship programs in the name of quarterly profits, and we prize short-term returns over long-term growth. The consequences are clear: a workforce that’s chronically underprepared, a culture impatient with depth, and a democracy starving for competent stewards. If we continue on this path, we’ll stunt our collective potential and condemn ourselves to repeat the same mistakes.

But there is a way forward. We can launch a new experiment. This time, we build on competency, accountability, and continuous learning. Picture senior leaders rotating through entry-level positions to stay grounded in everyday operations. Envision organizations that pay innovators to formalize and teach institutional knowledge before it vanishes. Imagine decision-making structures that reward expertise rather than enforce chain-of-command. Think of community labs, apprenticeship workshops, and rapid boot camps where theory meets practice and everyone, from the boardroom to the shop floor, can learn from real outcomes.

If humanity itself has been a grand trial, then our values were the hypothesis, and we’ve demonstrated just how far off the mark we are. It’s time to clear the path for the next iteration: tear down the walls that box in talent, reignite the spirit of apprenticeship, and demand that anyone calling the shots can still do the work. Only then will we build a society that learns, adapts, and grows once more. Let’s begin the next experiment today.