Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "only use things that have been around for at least three years" Yikes. I can understand the desire to mitigate churn, but following this advice would be career suicide. Trying new things is essential.
Trying is not the same thing as advocating for and implementing products features using unproven tech. Ive been in this industry nearly 40 years and I have seen many many people push new tech and later fail to deliver and suffer the consequences. Experiment where it doesnt matter, everywhere else boring and old is a virtue.
I hear you. "Choose boring tech" is a reasonable default stance. IMHO, designing resilient systems in anticipation of change, and finding ways to incorporate the best of what's new, is the nature of the game and what helps keep it fun after all these years (closer to 30 vs your 40, but I'm no spring chicken).