Don’t Just Say “I’ve Done This Before"

There’s a special kind of eye glaze that happens when someone says, “At my previous job, we did this…” It’s not because experience is bad—it’s because repetition is boring. No one wants to feel like the encore is just the same old song in a different theater.

If you’re pulling from your past, do it like a magician—not a historian.

Here’s how:

Zoom in on the why, not the what.
Don’t just say, “We implemented X.” Say, “We implemented X to solve Y, and it worked because of Z. But here’s why this moment is different—and better suited to a smarter version of that playbook.”

Remix, don’t replay.
Frame it as a version two-point-you. Use what worked before as raw material—not a mold. People want to feel like the solution is being crafted for them, not recycled at them.

Collaborate, don’t dictate.
Invite your team into the reimagining. “I’ve seen something like this succeed before—what would it look like if we made it ours?” is miles more powerful than “Trust me, I’ve done this.”

Make their future bigger than your past.
Your job isn’t to prove you’ve done the thing. Your job is to help them believe they can do it better—with your help.

No one wants to be another chapter in your career book; they want to be the plot twist.

Stay Positive & Say Why It’ll Matter Now