Seeing the world through patterns.
David A. Frankel ?? ?????
Commercial Growth Executive | Partnerships | GTM Strategy | General Manager | Sales | Marketing
Why Hiring "Young and Cheap" Comes With Its Risks.
Dinner table talks can be interesting, especially when you are like our family and have children that range from elementary school age to out of college.
A while back we had a conversation about why history is taught in school.
Our youngest loves history. He consumes it every chance he has and is a sponge – he is able to absorb and remember precise details about even some of the most obscure events that occurred over time.
He’s basically a chicken finger eating,?sports team jersey wearing?Alexa.
We were all genuinely impressed as he began to spout off things he learned on YouTube or in books he read during his nightly independent reading time.
Our third child, (then a newly minted driver), while genuinely impressed by his brother’s knowledge of these things, wondered aloud about why they were being taught about things that happened in the past in school. It seemed pretty useless.
It reminded me of something I had read a few years ago:
“The best thing we have going for us is our intelligence, especially pattern recognition, sharpened over eons of evolution,“ – Neil deGrasse Tyson
As humans we have the amazing ability to process massive amounts information over time and recognize patterns in what we see, experience and we learn. The more information we are given, the more opportunities for us to see more patterns.
The important part is not just being able to see the patterns, but take action as a result.
I explained this to our kids – they teach history not just so we memorize obscure facts, but?so we can learn?about patterns that have developed over time and make sure we don’t repeat the same mistakes from the past.
As we get older, I think we tend to understand how important seeing the world through patterns really can be.
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The quicker and more adept we are at seeing the patterns in our daily experiences, the better decisions we can make. While we may not be as "quick off the line” as we once were, we can better avoid repeating the mistakes we may have made earlier in our lives and careers because we can spot similarities in circumstances.
I know I totally underestimated the value of this earlier in my career. I always thought that productivity was a result of?ambition, smarts, hard work and will.
However there was another key ingredient that I now realize that I usually dismissed:?experience.
I completely discounted the fact that with more experience and maturity we can see more patterns in things that happen before us. We can anticipate problems more effectively and take action sooner because we have “seen the movie before.”
This allows us to not just work hard, but work better and more efficiently. There is tremendous value in this when it comes to productivity.
This seems like common sense, but I think many organizations are missing this as they look to fill open positions or consider how they build their teams. They may think going younger, less expensive and more ambitious is the best path to growth. They too often dismiss experience as a critical component to improving productivity and results.
I’d submit this is what is creating other problems in organizations that take time effort and resource to manage and offset any cost savings.
How do I know this?
I guess I’ve “been there, done that” and seen the patterns….
XOXO
Dave
This was adopted from the May 1, 2021 intro to my weekly "Friends of Dave" newsletter, which is accompanied by interesting links I curate each week. If you would like to see past full issues, please click here?>>>?https://www.getrevue.co/profile/davidafrankel
Trainer - Educator - Speaker
2 年Dave your premise meets the world in which we live. I have taught school kids that the whole world is made up of patterns, from the Green, yellow & red of the traffic lights to the 1's and 0's of technology. Those who recognize them more quickly and more often, will 'move to the head of the line'. To your point, those mature individuals that have amassed multitudes of pattern recognition - through good and negative experiences - are undoubtedly in a better position to help some businesses. Business leaders who more accurately assess the job description for a given position will save money and time (oh! those turnover costs) By not hiring the entry-level employee when the mature candidate with a superior 'inventory' of pattern recognition is available, you show a better understanding of your needs than your competition.
User-Centered Design Leader
2 年Good post but that animation is KILLING ME
Chief Revenue Officer, Early Stage Growth Advisor, Angel Investor | I help B2B SaaS Co's GTM, scale and grow to $25MM+
2 年The combination of young and smart with old and experienced, both with energy and ambition, is the ticket. At least, that's how I see it. Good post David A. Frankel and a bit self serving perhaps ??
Empowering executives to become the leaders they aspire to be, achieving their most ambitious goals by mastering their inner game through the development of mindfulness - sustainable inner peace, ease, and clarity.
2 年More good stuff, David. Thank you! Our minds combined with our experience is truly amazing and powerful. Look what we can accomplish. But also look at the damage we do. So I would add, that the very best thing going for us is the opportunity to disassociate ourselves from our minds and connect with our true selves. I'm re-reading Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now" where he explains this beautify. Now if I can actually live it. I'm trying, I'm trying! #thepowerofnow