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.

THE CERTAINTY OF YOUTH AND OLD AGE

"What Youth deemed crystal, Age finds out was dew."

Robert Browning (1812 -1889) British poet.

You are young if you are certain this is untrue, or true, regardless of your chronological age.

Only those uncertain are somewhere in between youth and old age.

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.

WHAT I DON'T KNOW NOW

"Nothing is as new as something long forgotten."

German proverb

It is each new generation's right to feel as though only they discover new things.

As well their affliction.

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."

GENERATIONAL ARROGANCE

"The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."

Albert Einstein

20th century German-Swiss-U.S. scientist

The next time you feel your generation is unique, consider what Mr. Einstein might have said about that.

LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!

"The very aim and end of our institutions is just this: that we may think what we like and say what we think."

Oliver Wendell Holmes

19th century American author and poet

But not without regard for how we say it.

Congratulations on your newly minted MBA and all you've learned in your education. 

Don't waste it by communicating in a way insulting to others.

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.

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.

We Won't Be Like You

"The new organization is edgeless, permeable, amorphous . . . constantly reforming according to need."

Unknown

This sounds like something a new generation person would say to demonstrate how they are different from all generations gone before them.

And there's a slight implied bias suggesting that the new way will be the better way.

If so, great, we can all benefit from new and better ways.

However before concluding that is so I'd like to hear how this "constantly reforming" organization intends to manage itself.

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.

You're Done Only When You Stop

"You are young at any age if you are planning for tomorrow."

Unknown

I like this on two levels; one, the advice to older workers to keep looking and moving forward, and two, exactly the same for companies no matter their age.

Eyes wide, keep planning, keep moving.

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?

About The Need To Be Heard

"He must be very ignorant because he answers every question he is asked."

Voltaire
18th century French writer

Notice Voltaire draws no distinction between answering correctly and incorrectly.

One of the hardest concepts I see younger workers struggling with is that sometimes less (from them) really is more.

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?

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?

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?