Four words have quietly ended more careers than any layoff: “I already know enough.”
I started my professional career as a mainframe computer operator. Today, I’m the Provost of WorkCompCollege.com.
There is no logical career path connecting those two jobs, at least not one I could have predicted when I was sitting at the console of a mainframe computer four decades ago.
The common thread throughout was curiosity. I have spent my entire adult life wanting to know more than I knew yesterday. Not simply about the job I was doing, but about subjects, technologies, people, and perspectives that might have little obvious connection to my immediate responsibilities.
I believe the moment you stop learning is the moment you start becoming irrelevant. With the pace of change we’re experiencing today, being a lifelong learner is even more important.
My first professional reinvention was from mainframe computer operator to software developer. I taught myself multiple programming languages and platforms, which eventually led to business analysis, project management, and department management. Then I entered the workers’ compensation industry and began to engage in an entirely different world: insurance, healthcare, legal, regulations, claims management, human behavior. As I leveraged my software development skills to create new products, I added more skills like marketing and sales. That led to an opportunity to write and speak at conferences, ultimately creating the RxProfessor brand. I even evolved my subjects over time, from opioids to AI.
Then, in 2021, I got laid off. After decades of building a reputation, I had to answer a question I hadn’t asked myself in years: What now? The answer had been built, piece by piece, from everything I’d learned when nobody required me to. My employer’s decision led to my next reinvention: business owner and Provost of WorkCompCollege.com.
I sometimes joke that I’m on version 476 of Mark Pew.
I didn’t learn all those things because I knew I would need them someday. I learned because I was interested. When new opportunities appeared, or circumstances forced me to change direction, my accumulated knowledge and experiences made those transitions possible. Everything I learned yesterday was quietly building toward today.
I’ve lived through the transitions from no computers to mainframes, personal computers, the internet, mobile, cloud computing, and remote work. Each transformation changed how people worked and what they needed to know. AI feels different, though, because of the speed and breadth of its potential impact. Skills that were valuable yesterday may become automated tomorrow. Tasks that once required specialized expertise can increasingly be accomplished by someone who knows how to ask the right questions and evaluate the answers. The World Economic Forum’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report estimates that 39% of workers’ core skills will change by 2030. The status quo isn’t coming back.
I’ve discovered that knowledge from seemingly unrelated subjects frequently becomes useful in unexpected ways. My technology background influences how I think about education and business development. My experience in project management helps me organize complex initiatives. Marketing taught me to communicate ideas provocatively. Speaking and writing have forced me to clarify what I believe in a concise and understandable manner. Studying human behavior has fundamentally changed how I interact with the world, both professionally and personally.
Experience is a wonderful teacher, but it can also become a trap. Nobody says “I already know enough” out loud. We say it with our calendars, by what we never make time to learn.
Author David Epstein explains why in Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. He describes “kind” learning environments, like golf or chess, where the rules are clear and practice makes perfect. Then there are “wicked” environments, where the rules shift, feedback is delayed, and today’s situation rarely matches yesterday’s. In wicked environments, people who draw on a wide range of experience consistently adapt better than those who know only one thing. If you’ve ever handled a work comp claim, you already know which kind of environment we work in. Learn one thing every quarter that your job doesn’t require.
A claims adjuster needs to understand statutes, case law, compensability, medical terminology, financial reserving, claims procedures, and return-to-work best practices (among many others). But to be effective, they also need to understand:
- Psychology: recognizing fear avoidance and catastrophizing before they stall recovery
- Effective communication: the first call that sets the tone for the whole claim
- Artificial intelligence: knowing what to automate, and what to double-check
- Leadership: influencing outcomes you don’t control
- The economics of healthcare: why the cheapest provider is rarely the least expensive claim
The same principle applies to clinicians, attorneys, salespeople, executives, and just about everyone else.
Sometimes the most valuable thing you learn has nothing to do with what you thought you needed to learn. That’s why I encourage people to seek information from multiple sources and perspectives, including those that challenge their assumptions. For example, I don’t limit my daily reading to work comp content, because macro trends eventually find their way into our industry.
Ask yourself these three questions:
- What have I learned in the past 90 days that genuinely changed my thinking?
- What subject outside my immediate expertise could make me more effective, personally or professionally?
- What am I doing today to prepare for opportunities or disruptions that I cannot yet anticipate?
Those questions apply whether you’re just entering the workforce or approaching retirement. Give question two your attention for 30 minutes per week for the next 90 days. When the 90 days are up, answer question one again. After all, the value of education isn’t what you know when the course ends. It’s what you do differently afterward.
If question two left you stuck, that’s exactly why we built the Advanced Training & Education Center (ATEC) at WorkCompCollege.com. ATEC reflects what I think continuing education should look like: broad, ongoing, and intentionally diverse. Rather than focusing exclusively on a single certification or discipline, ATEC provides an expanding library of learning opportunities across the workers’ compensation ecosystem. There are resources covering claims management, medical management, legal issues, risk management, return to work, humanities, and technology. Specialized offerings explore subjects such as mental injury claims, independent medical examinations, medical settlements, and practical AI applications. Jurisdiction-specific content now covers 38 states, each explained by a human expert in that state’s nuances. Pick the course farthest from your job description, as that could be your answer to question two.
So who owns your professional development? TIP: You do.
An employer can provide opportunities. A manager can encourage you. An organization can pay for training. But nobody can make you curious. Nobody can force you to ask better questions, explore unfamiliar subjects, or reconsider long-held assumptions. Face it … nobody has a greater stake in your future than you do.
Replace “I already know enough” with three better words: “Tell me more.” I’m working on version 477. What version are you on?
