It's only new if you have never experienced it before.....

Heartbreak Ridge (Clint Eastwood), The Big Red One (Lee Marvin) what great films, if you like films about men at war that is. What's interesting about both these films is that the main characters, Eastwood and Marvin, play "crusty"Sergeants who are close to retirement. Men who have been there and done that, seen many many campaigns. As a result they provide a sense of calm and security in an otherwise crazy and chaotic environment. Their experience has taught them what to expect and how to react. They are the preferred on field leader when the going gets tough.

Funny how many organisations undervalue this sort of experience either when recruiting (you are over qualified) or in retention and promotion. Take the field of change management or even product development. What's the craze today? AGILE! But what's AGILE? Well it's an iterative approach that requires self management and visual tracking. Huh? Guess what, it's not new. From my own experience my first encounter with the iterative approach to software development was in 1994. Self managed work teams also are not new.

It's only new if you have never experienced it before.

There are many men and women older than 50 years of age in the work place who have experienced these things before and as a result have immense knowledge and experience. Think about it in terms that a millennial would understand - these people saw the beginning of the Internet, they were there when the first Iphone was created. They probably even remember Apple's Newton (a tablet that failed), Nokia's mobile phone dominance, life before outsourcing and apps. These people have lived though it all and have adapted with it, probably led the changes that adapted these technologies to the work place. They have experience in change! Tap into it - it's a vast resource that may help you make your project a success.