As an old(ish) former senior exec sort of bloke, watching this crop of younger managers come through, I find myself disturbed.
It often seems that while they know the facts, and at an intellectual level, recognise the impact, they do not seem to understand them in any instinctive sort of way.
It is disturbing, particularly as I look forward in this country and cannot help but be pessimistic, and wonder where the general equivalent of the ‘corporate memory’ of Australia is hiding.
I grew up in the late 60’s and early 70’s. The social fabric of the world was changing at a rate that arguably has not been matched since, or will again. Not the tech world, the one we inhabit daily. The music, to that time unquestioned social behaviour, our trust in the institutions, and Vietnam: a war my now grown children know almost nothing about, that changed everything.
Trying to articulate the difference between just knowing this stuff, and really understanding it is really hard, but try this, if you are now well into your 60’s.
Let it be. The Beatles
‘Close to you’. The Carpenters.
‘In the Summertime’. The Mixtures
‘Bridge over troubled waters’. Simon & Garfunkel
‘Looking out my back door’. Credence Clearwater
‘El Condor Pasa’. Simon Garfunkel
‘Up around the bend’. Credence Clearwater
‘Knock knock who’s there? Liv Maessen
‘Whole Lotta Love’. Led Zeppelin
That is the top 10 singles in Australia in 1970. Throw in a few of the tracks that have a place in your personal history, to make the list 15 or so. On my list would be Leonard Cohens ‘Suzanne’.
Now, ask a 35 year old about the list, they will know some of the tracks, perhaps many, but it will be a list of songs, words on paper, perhaps even a tune, but there will not be a visceral connection.
They did not live through it, their understanding is intellectual, there is no emotional connection to their soul.
Having deep domain experience is the same thing, intuitive, visceral, extremely hard to articulate, but of immense value when harnessed.
Picture credit: New Yorker Magazine. (The second time I have used it).
