WHAT YOU'LL NEVER KNOW

"No man is ever old enough to know better."

Holbrook Jackson, late 19th/early 20th century British journalist.

(You too ladies.)

But at least I'm old enough to know this is true.

A PRICE WORTH PAYING

"Age is a very high price to pay for maturity."

Tom Stoppard, British playwright

While I wish when I was young I knew then what I know now, the fact is I didn't and few ever do.

If we're smart, the older we get the more useful things we learn, among them the good parts of maturity.

If we're smart.

Be smart.

ADULT YOUTHFULNESS

"Those whom the gods love grow young."

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

They do so by retaining the best of youth; wonder, excitement, the absence of prejudice.

So hard to do but when present with the rest that makes us adults, we find the best human beings possible.

HAVE YOU LEARNED THIS?

"All of us, who are worth anything, spend our manhood unlearning the follies, or expiating the mistakes of our youth."

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) English poet.

If you're not sure what this means you have much to learn.

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.

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.

What Was Doesn't Have To Be

"All of us who are worth anything spend our manhood unlearning the follies or expiating the mistakes of our youth."

Percy Bysshe Shelley

19th century English poet

That you learned "follies" is a given as is that you've made "mistakes".

What isn't a given is what you will do about it.

It's never too late to change.

Management: Age Is Only A Number

"Age is no guarantee of maturity."

Lawana Blackwell
Author

Nor of much else including wisdom.

While the odds improve that one will be wiser, more mature as they grow older (because they've had more years to become so), whether or not that will actually happen is another matter.

Do you assume older managers will be better than younger ones, or vice versa, and regardless, why, in what ways?

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?