IN ADDITION TO WHAT YOU KNOW, KNOW HOW!

"Information's pretty thin stuff unless mixed with experience."

Clarence Day, 20th century American cartoonist.

How much of what you believe you know how to do, but have never done, turns out well?

Knowledge alone isn't enough.

YOU CANNOT FAKE AND . . .

"You cannot create experience. You must undergo it."

Albert Camus, 20th century French philosopher

And when you have undergone it you can and should learn from it.

Sadly, many never do.

YOU HAVE A CHOICE, THIS IS IT

"To be happy, we must be true to nature, and carry our age along with us."

William Hazlitt (1778-1830) British essayist.

You can fight aging (ageing if you prefer), many do, all unsuccessfully.

Or you can embrace the process taking advantage of the good that comes each year you live.

What'll it be for you?

YOU'LL LEARN; ONE WAY OR THE OTHER YOU WILL LEARN

"The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the stupid by necessity and the brute by instinct."

Marcus Tulius Cicero (106-43 BC) Writer, politician and great roman orator.

And some of the wise occasionally learn by necessity because they stupidly failed to learn using their wisdom.

We all learn, the question is, how?

PRETTY PROUD OF THAT HARVARD DEGREE ARE WE?

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."

Mark Twain (1835-1910) U.S. humorist, writer, and lecturer.

Formal education is an important cornerstone of your future.

However, remember, there are four corners on every foundation.

What you learned in school is only the beginning of what you will ultimately need to know.

ARE YOU YOUNGER THAN YOU THINK?

"No man knows he is young while he is young."

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) British journalist/novelist/poet.

Most young men and women feel they are knowledgeable and mature beyond their years.

Only when they (hopefully) become so much later are they are able to look back and see how lacking in knowledge and maturity they were.

Unfortunately some never do.

THE (LACK OF) WISDOM OF YOUTH

"In America the young are always ready to give to those who are older than themselves the full benefits of their inexperience."

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet and dramatist.

I can think of no good reason Mr. Wilde would have drawn distinction between the youth of America and elsewhere; youth everywhere have an overabundance of faith in their judgement.

It is only when we begin to understand our increasing age that we also begin to understand all we do not understand.

And for some, not even then; the young who simply become older while none the more wiser.

ADVERSITY'S SILVER LINING

"We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it -- and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again -- and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore."

Mark Twain (1835-1910) U.S. humorist/writer/lecturer.

Very few consider what good might come from an otherwise bad experience.

It's not always obvious but it is most always there.

Look for it.

JUST WHEN I WAS GETTING REALLY GOOD

"Man arrives as a novice at each age of his life."

Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer

Very true.

Just when we've (hopefully) learned how to function well at one age we grow into another.

Never completely with all the wisdom we need to live our best.

That will only (if ever) come at a time just prior to the time we must move on to the next stage of our lives.

PAY ATTENTION; THEY HAVE A LOT TO TEACH, YOU HAVE A LOT TO LEARN

"Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but religiously follows the new."

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American naturalist, poet/philosopher

In every aspect of life, including business.

If you are just beginning your career, do yourself a favor and pay attention to those further along in theirs.

You might be surprised concerning how much they can teach you.

WHICH ONES WHEN?

"Every good servant does not all commands."

William Shakespeare 

Late 16th/early 17th century British poet/playwright

If you are just beginning your business career you are likely saying, "Hah! I knew that."

If you are farther along, with employees reporting to you, you might be saying, "True, but do all my commands."

And if you are at or near the end of your career your reaction might be, "Yes, but the hard part is knowing which ones when."

THE (COULD BE BUT MAYBE NOT) REWARD

"The reward of suffering is experience."

Aeschylus

5th century BC Greek dramatist

Well, maybe.

It's only a reward if you learn from and act positively on what you experienced.

Youth Be Served

"Men over forty are no judges of a book written in a new spirit."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

19th century U.S. poet, essayist and lecturer

If you are over 40, and a manager whose company sells to younger consumers, think about this.

How Sad Is That?

"There is nothing sadder than a young pessimist."

Mark Twain

19th century American humorist

I don't know about that.

There's not much joyful about an old one either.

Youth: A Means To An End

"Youth itself is a talent, a perishable talent."

Eric Hoffer

20th century American philosopher

One replaced by "experience" resulting from the mistakes we all make when young.

That is if we learn from our mistakes.

I Wish I Didn't Know Now What I Didn't Know Then

"Education is the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty."

Mark Twain

19th century American humorist/author

I see this in my clients and often it's not as much a matter of education as it is experience.

Or lack thereof.

Those just starting out don't know what they don't know, not to mention what they should know.

And those, generally older, who do know, are scared thinking about what they now know they don't know.

Management: The Trade-Off Between Youth and Experience

"Forty is the old age of youth, 50 the youth of old age."

Victor Hugo
19th century French poet/novelist

And what about now?

At least in business today, a time when many older workers want and need to continue to work, I'm betting (too many) feel these numbers should be 35 and 45.

What do you think?

Employees: The Balance Between Experience and Strength

"If youth only knew; if age only could."

Henri Estienne
Late 15th century French printer

Can you think of a better quote to summarize younger and older workers?

Particularly in these times with many either forced to stay in the work force longer than they had planned, or who are now coming back to rebuild retirement accounts.

Employers want the best of both.

How to get it?

Experience: The Wisdom of Gray

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest."

Confucius

Think about it, do what others do, learn from what you've done in the past.

Numbers one and three strike me as similar if not the same and in any event are close. Learn from what is or has been.

What role does experience play in your organization?

Young and Older Workers: Getting the Best of Both

"The first forty years of life give us the text; the next thirty supply the commentary on it."

Arthur Schopenhauer
19th Century German Philosopher

There is much truth in this. Moreover it is this "commentary" that has tremendous value for organizations.

It is the rare (young) individual who can put their knowledge in useful context. Almost all and certainly all the smart ones provide the greatest value only if they learn to learn from those older than them.

How (does?) your company combine the new knowledge and energy of youth with the irreplaceable experience of its older employees?