Boomers Moving On: Brain Drain or Wisdom Gain?

I see stories of an impending business brain drain as the Boomers retire. But what will really be lost? There probably isn’t a lot of technical information that will be lost as Boomers retire because much of the hardware and software they know about is being replaced over the next ten years anyway. And systems they built that do continue on have been in production for many years so they’ll run just fine for many more years (computer code does not wear out; computer code does not rust).

Technical skills are advancing and changing at a rapid rate; as in we need to constantly refresh and retool our skill sets or we become obsolete in about 3 – 4 years. This applies to all generations, therefore Boomers (I’m one myself), have no particular technical skills that are more valuable than those of any other generation. What we and older generations do have is experience (also known as “years of service”).

Since technology changes so fast, it isn’t the Boomers’ technical skills that are valuable. Instead, what Boomers (may/might/possibly could) have that would be valuable is a little of that elusive stuff called wisdom. Wisdom requires experience; it builds up over time; it means being there and doing it. Wisdom requires you to be aware of what’s happening, and remember it, and think about it, and make something out of your experience that goes beyond just you and the circumstances of your own life.

Most of us agree that technical skills alone are not enough; unless we use wisdom to apply those skills to best effect, it will all be for naught. Here’s where people who have been there and done it and learned from it are well positioned to provide value. Here’s why Boomers aren’t done yet – not by a long shot; we may move on but we won’t retire (can’t afford to anyway; who’re we kidding?).

Wisdom Could Get a Whole Lot More Accessible

The wisdom of the world has, for the last several hundred years, mainly been kept on paper in the form of text and that’s been a limiting factor on the number of people who could participate in and benefit from it. We all know there are different ways people learn and communicate; some people do respond to the written word and love to read and write, lots of other people don’t like to read and they aren’t crazy about writing and they respond better to music, or to pictures, or to movies, or to the spoken word.

And now (luckily just in time) there is this global network that can communicate wisdom in more ways than just text on paper and it reaches many more people than could ever hear the spoken word. So the role and influence of wisdom could actually expand in a big way. That’s a good thing. Because wisdom is probably our only hope for overcoming the most dire of human afflictions – the affliction of making the same mistakes over and over again and missing the same opportunities over and over again.

Let me sketch out a relevant analogy. We emerged as the creatures we are today (scientifically referred to as Homo Sapiens) when our cerebral cortex blossomed and grew over the existing structures of our animal brain. In that expansion of the cerebral cortex we awoke and became aware of ourselves. Our planet (affectionately known as Mother Earth) has spawned this whole unruly lot of us, and now she is using us to grow a network over the top of all of us that

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Mon, May 5, 2008 15:20 EDT

Do we really want Boomer Wisdom?

Posted by: Nenufar
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This piece made me grit my teeth and curl up my nose -- Boomer's insights on history and events are valuable as far as first person historical accounts go, but do we really need their 'Wisdom'? Aren't these the same people that got us into the economic and ecological mess that we're in right now? If Boomers were able to provide a solution to these problems wouldn't they have done it before now? This piece implies that somehow the Great Boomer Hope has been saving up all its oomph for retirement, cleverly holding back amazing solutions to economic crisis and ecological meltdown until the 11th hour. I for one don't believe it. In the words of my generation -- put up or shut up.

Gen X-er

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Thu, May 8, 2008 14:09 EDT

Brain drain or wisdom?

Posted by: Mike Anderson
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Your post is interesting, and I found the one commentor even more so.

When anyone uses a word like wisdom, it implies a certain degree of superiority which appears to have irritated the commentor. It would have irritated me as well. Whenever anyone suggests my skills are dated, I have the same response. It is critical without a basis in fact.

Wisdom is not something automatically gained through having lived long. The decisions of my generation and the earlier sixties radicals, are and will plague us for many years.

The passing on of highly effective managers will have its affect on business. But if they did their jobs, they have mentored their replacements. Unfortunately, in the me, me, me world they created, mentoring is sitting on a shelf right next to succession planning, gold watches, and chivalry.

The younger generation will do just fine without us.

Take care,

Mike Anderson

Sat, May 10, 2008 9:02 EDT

Anger and Regrets

Posted by: Michael Hugos
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Hi Nenufar – I hear you; it seems to be the fate of all generations to be blamed and reviled by those generations that come behind them. In the words of another generation – don’t trust anyone over 30… :)

Alas Mike – We all make mistakes; wisdom is often confused with self-righteousness. We’ll also be plagued for years to come by the decisions of nineties neocons made in this decade. In the words of a poet from a generation that has already come and gone -

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.