Are Old People Relevant?
We live in interesting times. We claim we do not want to discriminate, but we discriminate every day. „Discriminare“ (latin) translates to „differenciate, separate, split“. It is a neutral word indicating an activity but no emotion. Is discrimination ugly and bad? Or is it just normal?
I am a male, white, old. Facts. In this context, I am not representing a minority. I am father of four children, and we decided decades ago to live with just one salary. The reason? We wanted to have time for our children as we believe it´s relevant and necessary. With this decision my wife and I represent a minority. 83 million Germans form 11 million families. Only 2% of all families in Germany have four of more children. In Germany are more people gay than parents of four children. Facts, no discrimination. With our decision, we decided never to get rich in cash. We got rich having the family we have. Is our decision relevant in a business context? Eventually.
What our nature or individual decision brings to our life should remain private. As an employer, we should look for talent. Only when company´s rules become unfair, we might have to react. What am I talking about? Once I worked in a company where executives have been expected to spend during their career at least 2 years each in three different continents. Sounds logical for a multinational company. My HR-partner once told me: „We will never send you abroad. Four times international school is too expensive.“ This was honest and understandable. I would not have invested in four times international school, too. It´s too expensive. Now – where´s the issue? My employer closed doors. My private life did not allow me to become an executive. At least with this employer. I did not complain, but I left.
I never complained understanding in a society it is impossible to reach equality. The Bells Curve tells it is not possible. In one of my previous posts, I wrote about the bells curve and some consequences. No society is equal, and we even understand the benefit of inequality: It is relevant for development and prosperity. Now I am an „old white man“. I struggle with the tone coming with this sentence in many occasions. What´s wrong with an old (white) man?
Most cultures respected old people while we sort them out. Is it smart to erase a potential talent pool? Old people got old because they survived. In other words – they developed certain skills. The attached movie will show how an old person knowing the game and its tricks outperforms an experienced younger person https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nMm9tfOfTDw.
To give up any skills and experience is easy. To get it back is hard, sometimes impossible. The magic trick will be the combination. And the trick will be to get the right blend of talent. Talent has no gender, no color, no age. And we have never enough talent. Let´s go for talent! If the old white man can support, just let me know: This homepage indicates my offerings, and you will reach me here or there: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukas-von-hippel-4a3a212/.