Too old to die young, and too young to grow up
“And the older a person is, the more patterns they have seen. An old saying ensures that when an older man dies, it is as if a library has been burned. In the digital age, libraries, like the elderly, are not as popular as they used to be, but wisdom never goes out of style.”
–Sebastián Campanario.
“Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I will learn.”
–Benjamin Frankin.
Just one year ago, during an investor’s results call, Mark Read –president and CEO of WPP, one of the largest conglomerates of communication and advertising companies in the world such as AKQA, Grey, Ogilvy, and Wunderman Thompson, among many others– gave the world a terrible demonstration of ageism. Asked by an analyst if WPP had the right balance of people with skills in TV and digital, Read said (as reported by Campaign): “We have an extensive range of skills, and if you look at our people –the average age of someone who works at WPP is less than 30– they don’t hark back to the 1980s, luckily.” Minutes later, the reaction on social networks exploded as he posted apologies, and someone said that his sayings could cost him his position.
I’m turning 50 this year. I have opened my eyes at 5 AM for over more than ten years without even setting the alarm clock. I exercise routinely, almost 4 or 5 days a week as I have never done, and work an average of 12 hours a day. I have never felt better in my entire life. Entering the “half time,” this kind of pseudo-positive crisis of the 50s is well documented, and there is much information on the subject. A few months ago, I listened to a podcast where they interviewed an Argentine economist named Sebastián Campanario. Sebastián had just published a book called “Senior Revolution, the rise of the 45+ generation,” where he precisely addresses this topic. He kept describing me on the podcast, and everything he said made a perfect match with how I’m feeling at this stage. Clear and forceful insights from my generation, the “senior” one, the one over 45 and counting. Without hesitation, I went on Kindle store, bought his book and began to put it in black and white where my generation, the “X,” was standing, and how was our relationship with the younger generations, such as the Millennial one.
There has always been and will always be a conflict between generations. The older ones always complain about the younger ones. They say that they try to educate and help them not to make the same mistakes that they made and, according to them, perform better in life. We forget because we were in their shoes at some point that young people seek to find their way, and part of this has to do with revealing themselves and trying to be self-sufficient. The generation of my parents did not understand mine and complained about our attitude in life. As a parent, I sometimes do not understand my kids, and I also complain as they did about me. This is part of the evolutionary cycle, but I realized, especially in the workplace, that there is a prominent area where the elderly connects very well with the younger ones due to a transparent exchange of value to an “emotional transaction” where we all win.
In his book, Sebastián Campanario tells the story of Chip Conley, an American hotel businessman who went bankrupt in 2008 and began working for Airbnb at the age of 52. Although he was obliged to start from scratch in terms of money, he was a millionaire in terms of experience and emotional intelligence. Mr. Conley didn’t understand anything about technology and felt lost in management meetings. He said: “I will offer you a little emotional intelligence in exchange for your digital intelligence. Many young people can ‘read’ the screen of their iPhone better than that of the person next to them. And the reality is that emoticons don’t create interpersonal skills or face-to-face skills. My beginner mentality helped me find my blind spots a little better because I was free from routines and expert habits. In my experience, it is less difficult for older people to recognize how much you still don’t know”. In his book, “Wisdom at Work,” Mr. Conley comments that “at a time when we can Google the answer to just about anything, it’s important to remember that some things come only through lived experience. And there’s a certain magic when older and younger learn from, and with, each other.”
I believe that neither the old nor the young have a monopoly on wisdom. It is an attribute we all cultivate and harvest over time. I also have realized that we are not competing with one another because we are in different life stages. That emotional exchange becomes mutual mentoring. On the other hand, working and spending time with younger people is super refreshing and keeps me updated in many aspects.
Mr. Conley also writes in his book that everyone working past middle age today needs to become a modern elder, sharing wisdom while accepting fresh ideas and ways of thinking.
In my 20s or 30s, I remember seeing those in their 50s as older adults who were thinking about their retirement. Me and millions of other people who are also playing the “second half” plan to work 2 or 3 decades more. To become modern elders, we have to find new ways to stay relevant, keeping our minds open and our skills fresh, and being more humble than ever before.
I am feeling too old to die young, and too young to grow up. To put it in other words, committing to an emotional exchange among generations not only helps you pass along your wisdom, keep your brain sharp, and enables you to learn new things you never imagined.
