Feinstein teaches us that too much experience can be a bad thing

Feinstein also told the group that she has "been doing this for 30 years" and that "I know what I'm doing."

But does she really? I've covered Feinstein for most of those 30 years -- including on such issues as immigration, education, gun control, the Iraq war vote, and more.

Trust me: She often has no clue what she's doing. She long ago went from being part of the solution to evidence of the problem.

And you know why that is? It's because job experience is a double-edged sword. The trick is to do something long enough so you get good at doing it, but not so long that what you get good at is not getting anything done.

No matter what kind of job we're talking about, you want to pick up expertise, not bad habits. You want to effect change, not fortify the status quo. You want to find ways to get results, not come up with excuses for why you're coming up short. And you want to stay the course and not get stuck in a rut.

When you've been a teacher, a doctor, or anything else for two or three decades, having a ton of experience can easily go from an asset to a liability.

Just look at my father, a retired law-enforcement officer who was on the job for 37 years. I used to tell people that his tenure was long enough as to make him totally unqualified to do anything else. For instance, at some point, maybe in the 1980s, he crossed the invisible boundary where he could no longer serve on jury duty. When the defense attorney would ask him if he could be impartial, my dad would smile and say: "Not really. If your client is sitting at the defendant's table, he must be guilty." He was soon dismissed.

I suffer from a similar affliction. I've been writing professionally for nearly 30 years. And, after spending all that time covering politicians skilled at spreading manure, it's a wonder I still vote. Recently, a reader urged me not to be so cynical and so distrusting. As he put it: "When you spend all your time in sewers, pretty soon, everything looks like a rat." That explains it. I see rats everywhere.

The popular theory advanced by Malcolm Gladwell, the popular writer and thinker, says that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master a craft.

What no one tells you -- and what someone should tell Feinstein -- is that it's the 10,001st hour you need to worry about.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.