One thing that old timers like me have to realize is that old timers like me are not the future of business. We’d like to pretend that we are, that our ideas will remain fresh forever, that we can continue to think ahead of the curve, but the truth is that our minds get slow, our thoughts fall into ruts, and in the end it’s the young that will innovate the markets, not people like me.
The problem becomes that people like me tend to not trust the young for the very same reasons that they are exactly who we should trust. We feel that they are inexperienced, they lack knowledge of “how things work,” they have no respect for tradition, specifically traditions designed to keep the senior people in power and slow down progress. We worked out way up through this system and don’t see why the next generation can’t as well. The honest reality, however, is that it’s not being a part of a failing, obsolete system that makes them so desirable as employees.
But, as a mock inspirational poster I saw pointed out, “Tradition: Just Because It’s How You’ve Always Done Things, Doesn’t Mean It’s Not Incredibly Stupid.” The system that was put into place when I and my predecessors were coming up in business is no longer viable to the modern work environment. That has a lot to do with speed. Things simply move too fast today to ask everybody to slow down and wait their turn. This is especially true of ambitious young minds with new ideas and business models to work with.
If you want fresh ideas, it’s time to look to a fresh place, and that means young people. It’s worth the risk that they might replace you one day. In fact, odds are they will. It’s the nature of business, so accept it and succeed while you still can. Take a chance on youth and you’ll often find that they won’t disappoint you.
