By Tony Samson
BECAUSE OF better nutrition and health care, the average life span of individuals has increased. There are more old people around, and they seem to be occupying all the rocking chairs in the mall. Still, the life expectancy for the Philippines is among the lowest, ranking 123rd in the world as of 2018. The top country in life expectancy is still Japan at 83.7 years for both sexes. (Can you pass the sushi?)
The life expectancy for Filipino males is age 66.2 and much higher for females at 72.6 years. Why do women outlive men in the Philippines? This is not a political question.
Digging further, a Filipino male that reaches age 60 can live further up to 75.7 years. If he reaches 70, he statistically lives up to 82.2 years. Anyway, the population pyramid favors those with higher income due to access to better health care and a less stressful lifestyle, except for being stuck in traffic and playing word games.
Organizations peppered with those eligible for retirement are getting to be more common. (It’s like Grandparents Day out there.)
Certain cultures prize the ancients for their accumulation of knowledge and life’s lessons, whether reading the weather or fortune’s whimsical moods. However, in the throwaway society we live in, knowledge is as quickly obsolete as last year’s gadget and killer app. The value of an old person (50 is the new 70) depreciates as fast as old technology — slow, limited in features, and inadequate data storage. (Everything’s in a cloud with me.)
Even soft attributes like connections and personal relationships with customers and decision-makers decline in value as companies reorganize or are gobbled up by smaller organizations. Contacts disappear into early retirement. The average occupancy period for senior positions is shrinking, sometimes to less than a month — she talks too much.
Only owners seem exempt from being ignored or rushed out the door due to advanced age. And even they are elbowed out of real management by the younger generation conversant with debt leverage and big data.
Getting old in a company no longer means being the fount of experience. Older people are seen as no longer in tune with the times. In corporate ecology, recycling is not a virtue. New vocabulary is preferred.
The corporate elder is portrayed as a dinosaur, even if that symbol for obsolescence lived for a hundred million years before it became extinct. This ecological life span is over a thousand times longer than homo sapiens. But the latter in its millennial version is likely to retort to this little trivia — so who is still striding the earth, Mr. T-Rex?
Young managers are brought in for their forward thinking and familiarity with new technology. They are expected to be energetic and impatient with the status quo. They walk the hallways looking for slow-moving objects to eat for lunch.
In sports, the rookies are closely watched for their potential for stardom. After they become established stars, the commentators lose interest as they become candidates for legendary status. When they pass 30, they are characterized as tired and needing to be rested while younger legs take over. Teams in competition are compared for their average ages with the younger group given the advantage. “Veterans” are trotted out only to stabilize the game. They are quickly sat down when the pace of the game leaves them clutching their shorts and taking short breaths.
Neophytes are no longer expected to be deferential. Their mandate to change things (hopefully for the better) entails getting rid of anybody eligible for a loyalty award.
How boring is the tale of the banishment of the old guard by newcomers? Masters of the universe no longer offer false assurances (we value your contribution to the company’s past successes) to placate incumbents. Their offices are being measured for renovation for other occupants.
You can’t teach old dogs new tricks even when these still barking canines may still have tricks of their own. Sharing lessons may be the key to bridging the generation gap. Oldies share their Sun Tzu moves as newbies offer their insights on bit coin wallets and blockchain programs.
But then again, dogs whether young or old, keep their tricks to themselves… except when directing the fastest way to the exit.
Tony Samson is Chairman and CEO, TOUCH xda.
