On Modern Elders – Sixty Seven

Sometime last year, while browsing The New York Times I had came across this A New Luxury Retreat Caters to Elderly Workers in Tech headline. Prompted by the article, I did further research on Chip Colney & his latest Times’ best seller book “Wisdom@Work: The Making of a Modern Elder“. The book has received well coverage in prestigious news & print media with glowing reviews.

The book made to my reading list and I just finished my first reading. It is one of the fascinating book that I have read and I plan to read it one more time.

Modern Elders

The word “elderly” is defined as “old” “advanced age “. Chip Conley, an entrepreneur and award winning author, says the term “elder” should be rescued from”elderly” in his Times best seller book “Wisdom@Work: The Making of a Modern Elder“. In most reviews, the following quote from the book is highlighted.

This is the perfect time for elders to make a comeback. Thanks to their ability to synthesize wise, empathetic solutions that no robot could ever imagine. In an era of machine intelligence, emotional intelligence and empathy—something older people have in spades—are more valuable than ever. The more high tech we become, the more high touch we desire.
Chip Conley, from Wisdom @ Work

The book is also guide for older-age people to make most of their later years. He advocates businesses to “embrace” the “modern elders” because the younger generation benefits from the older co-worker at the same time the older employee learns new knowledge from the younger co-worker. It is beneficial to learn from each other.

Being a Modern Elder is all about reciprocity. Giving and receiving. Teaching and learning. Speaking and listening.
Chip Conley, from Wisdom @ Work

In an interview with Roger Dean Duncan of the Forbes, Chip Colney offers following helpful guides to the elders:

Empower: Elders could empower others by asking questions emulating genuine interest to learn & curiosity.
Listen: Follow as Edgar Schein writes, “Try to minimize your own preconceptions, clear your mind at the beginning of the conversation, and maximize your listening as the conversation proceeds. In fact, the most important diagnostic that the other person will use to decide whether or not you are interested is not only what you ask but also how well you hear the response. Humble inquiry can reduce the status or deference gap and lead to a more informal open exchange.”
Put your heads together: While asking questions a helpful rule is to ask that each inquirer start their brainstorming inquiry with a “What if” or “How might we” question.
Be goal oriented: Ask goal oriented questions to reveal blind spots, help others to regain confidence.

Modern Elder Academy

The Modern Elder academy, established by Chip Conley in 2018, is an non-profit what he calls a “midlife wisdom school” where the goal is to “grow whole, not old.” According to its website, it’s “a refueling station at a pivotal fork in the road” where graduates are given tools to “dramatically reduce stress and ramp up resiliency and adaptability”.

What makes it interesting is you’ll see a social worker and an investment banker walking down the beach together and learning from each other. They’re facing different issues, but there’s a commonality of facing midlife that bonds them together. We don’t want only rich people.
Chip Conley

Wisdom wasted

Colney writes “Modern elders bring lot of wisdom to work place. However most business don’t value older employee and rather depreciate them because they are considered expensive burdensome. Such an age discrimination is still common in workplace.”

In an interview with journalist Kevin McKean Colney says “There are a lot of people walking around feeling like an old carton of milk with an expiration date stamped on their foreheads. But their wisdom and experience makes them less like a carton of milk and more like a vintage wine — especially now, in the digital era.”

Additional resources

Contents of this Notes was inspired by the Chip Conley‘s recent book Wisdom @ Work – The Making of A Modern elder. Cover image credit: Screenshot from the Modern Elder Academy.