The age of adrenaline
When we were kids, our parents warned us of things and people.
Come school, the teachers warned us of bad grades and bad company.
Enter college and the cigarette packs warned us of cigarettes.
At university, one of the professors warned us of the mid-age crisis. He was likely going through it himself.
Yet, it was as if our DNA was programmed to ignore any advice coming from an older or wiser source. Its priority was to find adventure, fry bigger fish and check off the Japanese twins on the bucket list.
Then came the professional life or so it is called. It was again time to ignore the big bad wolf bosses. In fact to despise them and hold responsible as the very reason the company was failing — Them and their old ways.
It seemed like we had already won, the fresh blood racing through our veins was enough reminder that we were in charge as opposed to the official hierarchy that was getting its teeth fixed every two weeks.
Some of us were lucky to have mentors at work, while others had helpful senior colleagues and a chosen few had nasty people hell bent on destroying their lives and careers. No matter which category they fell in, we deemed ourselves technologically advanced and intellectually superior. We were the internet generation who had more exposure to the world sitting in our little chairs in the basement than these grey haired wolves could ever have dreamed.
Their outdated systems, rusted thoughts and overly careful attitude was in the way of our unstoppable endeavors.
We were out to change the world or destroy trying
There were no hidden agendas and we would frequently rub all of this in the faces of our seniors.
Surprisingly, they would not retaliate or show any visible irritation — dismissing our blockchain ideas, they would simply go back to the basics and tell us things like, ‘This needs more work’, ‘there is context documentation missing’, ‘can we change the background on that’. That kind of resolve on their part would make me pull my hair out.
Life went on without knowing or understanding the dynamics of these highly informed perspectives. Why to bother when you know you are right.
Until I lost one of my parents and equally found myself looking at a screen connected to a cam in my 2 year old’s room making sure he was sleeping ok while I wasted time on this blog.
All flights were grounded. The realities dawned.
The wisdom in all things taken for granted dissolved into the apparent. The memory of our peers and their words at every stage came running back. How the things they tried so hard to teach us actually saved our souls and our lives.
I would not mention more on why we should have listened more to our parents and teachers because we are now mostly parents ourselves and have been taught our lessons the hard way. Even if possible to go back in time, I am sure I would make exactly the same mistakes again.
But let us focus on here and now and how my own aging has taught me to respect and value the age of my management, current and over the years.
Why do they always want us to follow procedure — Does it give them some sort of sadistic pleasure or because they have seen many careers destroyed by sheer negligence of what is legal and what is considered an honest mistake. They are not there to stop our progress, but to gently push us back so we would not go crashing into an unexpected wall.
While they have hired, they have also sat there across the desk and told many to go home — The gravity of that decision does not fall lightly on them and it is a burden which they carry on their shoulders for the rest of their lives.
Why would they not give us a day off but not ask twice if there is a family emergency — Because death is real and they have been the ones to know first or inform first — Not easy in either case — and they have dealt with the financial fallout and seeing grieving wives and blank faced kids not knowing where the next pay cheque would come from.
These are things no young professional would ever go through — no matter how exposed we think we are to the world of knowledge and become fearless in our pursuits.
Do not wait for their farewell to quote a few words, but it is important to carry that respect in our hearts every single day — because one day we will be them and it is only through acknowledging their patience with us that we will learn to be patient with the ones coming after us.
