Week 6: Obsession with Retirement, HR Jokes, Elon Musk = ...?
As people across the world plan to take a Christmas break at the end of yet another strange year, I would like to bring up this topic of the long-held obsession with retirement.
A lot of friends complain about their retirement. We tell 'em to get a life. ―?Vince Lombardi
Most people do not think of retirement as a fluid concept, even if we show them that it has already morphed from the traditional "retirement" definition to many new possibilities.
From the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement as popularized by Vicki Robin to the possibilities listed in the book The 100-Year Life, to think of retirement as a black and white concept is very dated. A fun fact is that up to 40% of retirees go back to work in the US.
Add to this, the YOLO economy and the COVID-19 pandemic enabled a period of "great reflection."
Time and again I see people talk about what should they do to exit from their current job/profession, jump the ship and altogether retire from their so-called "work".
Not many people think/plan about what they must do to rejoice/sustain, instead.
I think it makes a lot more sense to rethink retirement rather than obsess over it.
Topics of the week
1. The half-life of skills
Have you heard of the COBOL programming language?
John Seely Brown, whose self-proclaimed title is the Chief of Confusion, along with Douglas Thomas predicted in 2011 that the half-life of a learned skill is at best 5 years. Well, the world has changed a lot since then and is continuing to transform unimaginably.
In this hyper-dynamic world filled with the release of new platforms, architectures and software every week or month if not earlier, where do skills like COBOL programming fit in?
What other skills, like COBOL, could be the dinosaur of skills in today's world of work?
Do you know the half-life of the skills in your own profession?
2. HR Jokes
In my decade long career so far, I came across many jokes on HR.
I must admit that I neither liked them nor seriously attempted to acknowledge them. This was even before I planned to consciously move into the HR profession.
Even on LinkedIn when I see a lot of jokes about the HR function and HR professionals, I don't engage with them because I genuinely feel it is not worth it. At best, they are a great source of learning about how people think.
This week I noticed many people going gaga over Leena Nair's recent career move with a hope that it brings glory to the HR profession, I get that and I respect Leena's career journey without second thoughts.
But sometimes it is best not to acknowledge certain things in life and rather focus on what needs to be done. In light of this, I wrote this brief comment on a post.
Hypothetical question: How would Leena respond if you ask her to highlight the value HR can bring to businesses and people?
Her answer would perhaps be this (inspired from her keynote at TechHR India 2019):
Let us be mindful that in a world that is highly connected due to advancements in technology, there is growing sense of disconnectedness and loneliness within people. So the more digital an organization becomes the more human it has to become at the same time.
Can we do something about this as leaders / HR professionals? Of course YES!
领英推荐
I would rather channel my energy and resources to make such an impact than waste in the hope to end the jokes/myths etc.
I hope you do the same too, no matter whether you are in the HR profession or not.
From the internet
I think this week's announcement of Elon Musk as TIME magazine's 2021 person of the year is a great justification for why I have this section in my newsletter.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that no one engages with the internet community as much as he does.
Engagement, not in terms of how much content or number of interactions but how empowered he lets his followers feel. Look at the follow-up tweet of the below pool.
We could argue that the real reasons could be different but the whooping number of votes received on this poll impacting the $10 billion on the table says it all!
No wonder that many consider Elon Musk as the most viral social influencer ever on the internet right now. Through his presence on the internet, the breadth of the industries/domains he touches and the depth of the impact he creates, I think, is unmatchable.
This complete coverage by TIME is a fascinating read about Elon Musk.
Extrapolating what Aswath Damodaran recently said about Tesla, I would say that you can love him or hate him but can't ignore him.
Personal Updates
One of the dreams I have for 2022 is to socialize more about my personal learning projects.
In the coming few days I look to plan what I wish to learn in the next year through a maximum of 3 to 5 projects in total.
I am keen to know what are your career/life dreams for 2022 and I would be glad if I can be of any help to you, so don't hesitate to reach out to me.
That brings me to the end of the Week 6 edition.
Do share this newsletter?with your friends, family members, colleagues, managers and team members if you think they will benefit by reading this.
Until next Friday,?keep?tracing your mastery.
#TraceYourMastery
If you missed the previous editions of my newsletter, don't forget to check them:
Received this as a forward? Subscribe to directly receive weekly updates.
Can I request you to please share in the comments, your views and feedback?