The younger generation is bright, without fear, full of optimism, with not much to lose and everything to gain, with plenty of energy and creativity, with a future not a history.
Should our age, our comfort, our experiences and skills be the shrouds of our careers? Or is this fake notion of work life balance which kills combativity and render the best us of slowly has-beens.
By choosing to live in Hong Kong I escaped de-facto to the notion of work life balance, the recent events (and the corresponding stress increase) plus the nature of the Hong Kong businesses are de-facto destroying what is considered in the West as a good work life balance.
So, I live in a city where we are not accustomed to comfort and where not taking into consideration change of business models and change of laws and regulations could simply erase years of efforts.
This is not the situation of many of my 50+ years old friends which I see with despair slowly becoming has-beens, they are enjoying their life but their clients are not anymore enjoying their combativity and creativity.
They are replacing “let’s try” by “it’s too dangerous”, they protect their business and cease to develop it, they have more excuses than solutions.
On the opposite some 50+ are incredibly temerarious, as if at 50+ they will not have to face the consequences of their actions, they are the most dangerous has-been as they are completely disconnected from reality and living a life as 30 years ago when circumstances were totally different.
Is there a secret to avoid being a has-been?
FEAR is a good tool, the fear to look alike the has-been persons we despair.
MIXITY is a good solution, when one of your business partners is a 24 years old African immigrant in Europe, he doesn’t know your cultural references and you must learn about his experiences.
CURIOSITY is a must so is continuous learning.
But my own preference is DIGITAL, most of the people involved in the digital economy are de facto obligated to continuously change, adapt or pivot their business models, governments are enacting news laws and regulations and the business owners and decisions makers should be agile.
If you want to hire the services of a lawyer, and advisor or consultant if this person is active in the digital economy, you are certain that the person will not refer immediately to a past situation, he/she managed as the evolution of practices and regulations could make it irrelevant.
Instead, the players in the digital economy are imagining what tomorrow’s new reality will be and possess this unique ability for A/B testing their thoughts and advice.