A friend recently shared a link to an article about no one
wanting our parents' things when they downsize or die. Yep, I knew that already! At this point in my
life, I don't even want my own stuff.
What troubled me about the article was not that the next generation
doesn't value the material items older generations have accumulated -- I get
it, it's not their stuff -- but that the poster's sentiment was so bitter. She was lamenting how things change with a very
old school "get off my lawn" attitude. She's one of many of my fellow Gen X’ers who
hear a favorite old restaurant or bar they haven’t been to in years is closing and
immediately adopt the stance that everything good ends, change is bad and “kids
today” don’t appreciate the past. The
really scary part is that she's actually a year or two younger than I am.
Change is hard. But,
when we stop embracing change, learning and moving forward, we stagnate. Every generation FOREVER has criticized the
next about lifestyle, fashion, work ethic, etc., but I think there's a lot to
be shared and learned from both my position of experience and a millennial’s relative
business innocence and fresh perspective.
Sure, they may approach business in a way I’m not used to but it doesn't
mean they aren’t smart or could be one idea away from an innovation that will
shake things up for years.
Ironically, at the same time I find myself shrinking from my
less open-minded peers – the ones who poo poo the “kids today” -- I’ve also
found that quite a few of those innovators and entrepreneurs who have real decision-making power (at
an age when I was still figuring it out), are just as closed-minded as my peers about the
value the previous generation can bring to the table in business.
Instead of looking at people over 50…or 40 even…as stale and old
school, shouldn't the goal be to have the smartest people in the room backing up the leaders at all times? Experience, when pertinent and current,
should be grabbed and used to its full potential to
help everyone succeed. Sometimes the smartest one in the room is twice as old as the guy on the other side of the open plan, shared workspace table
who is calling the shots. And sometimes,
it’s a fresh recruit, just getting a foot in the door. Good ideas and smart people are not limited by age.
I’m pretty flexible when it comes to the means to achieve an
end. I’m not stuck in the past nor married to anachronistic ideas of how things
should work. I’m annoyed by people who
can’t change. I’m 53 and I’m one of the smartest guys in the room some days
because I’m lucky enough to work where my experience and expertise are
appreciated. I wish everyone had the
opportunity to shine, regardless of age.
