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Yesterday, I was talking with a friend about how we don't value life experience in our culture. Basically, we don't respect our elders. She continued to tell me how she is interested in writing a book on raising children because she had such a wonderful relationship with her parents. She thought that her home life was the norm, but she has since discovered that she had a rare and very good up bringing.
She used an example from her teen years to illustrate. When she was 15, she remembers asking her mother: What would you do in this situation Mom? I have never been 15 before I know that you are past 15. Tell me what you think based on what you know? I would say my friend was wise beyond her years. She understands sage-ing.
This is a great example of the value of life experience. When we have experiences that others do not have, we have the advantage of learning and it would be nice if we had more opportunities to share what we have learned.
But it seems as if people don't ask and our families and organizations are providing fewer opportunities to share. I have advocated building mentoring into your system so that it happens either on a formal or informal basis. In fact, organizations are giving incentives for people with experience and wisdom to leave early! Does this make sense? What are the organizations losing? The people leaving are losing a significant part of their identity.
What if we created more spaces and places for people to share their wisdom?
What if people who retired were invited back to share their perspectives on things.
What if we took time to listen to family stories?
I like what you wrote about in this blog. I feel like my mother is one of my best friends and my mentor. I love to hear what she would do in the situations I am in and almost always take her advice. She has had so much more experience than me that I can benefit from.
You have made a great point here about companies losing valuable employees by encouraging those with “experience and wisdom” to leave. Often times employees with many life experiences and time spent in the field can be more valuable than someone who simply has a higher education. Not saying that an education isn’t something worth pursuing, however, it is definitely necessary to get hands on experience. One must be able to apply what they have learned in the classroom. Because of this it is important to utilize and respect those who have experience.
I can connect to this blog. In many situations when I do not know what I am to do, I am able to find somebody who has experience in the situation I am in and am able to get sound advice. I feel this is a valuable tool to have.