It's not OK to be old

What was your reaction to that statement?  Immediate fuming internally? A nod of recognition?

I recently read two interesting articles in The Independent newspaper giving counterpoint to the ageism issue. The first by CEO mentor Avril Millar berating the language used around older women that perpetuates the feeling of 'invisibility'. The second a report that EasyJet are opening recruitment in September of over-55s for cabin crew. And since they started the 'older' recruitment drive in 2022 the number of over-60s has almost quadrupled.
 
A third item I read elsewhere was in-depth analysis of the robotic developments in China and, in part, the desire to pursue this to counter an aging workforce.
 
It got me thinking. There's a seismic shift in the world of employment, larger than in my lifetime. The closest analogy perhaps is the Industrial Revolution but there it was a change in employee hiring and practices relating to technology without the added hurdle of a rapidly aging workforce.
 
What do we do as leaders then to ensure that our organisations, our teams are able to navigate this shifting world. How do we ensure that we can think clearly and strategically? Well, giving yourselves time to think is a good start. Introducing a Thinking Environment into the workings of the Board and SMT would turbo-drive people's thinking and ability to challenge assumptions around future scenarios.
 
If you're interested in discovering more about time to think and how to introduce a Thinking Environment take a look at the Foundation training I'm running in the autumn as a starter for 10 and get in touch.