Last week, I gave a presentation to the ALA (Association of Licensed Architects) entitled “Beyond the Magic Bullet; Small Firm Marketing/BD Strategies to Tackle the Down Economy”. At one point, I posed this notion: ‘grey haired’ seasoned professionals are viewed as the lowest risk by most buyers of AEC services in this economic climate. Juxtapose that experience with younger talent that is agile, adept, and comfortable with the newest in communications and social media, and you have a winning team.
Post-session, I had a thoughtful exchange with an attendee (we’ll call him Matt) that is himself a ‘grey haired’ seasoned professional. A firm owner, Matt is clearly accomplished, articulate, and successful in the field of architecture. He was self-assured enough to state something along the lines of “I’m glad you said what you did about the seasoned professionals being highly desired by clients right now. I admit, sometimes I wonder—especially when in client pitches—when I will actually become irrelevant in the eyes of the client?”
I’ve given it thought, and have concluded that an adult professional can be irrelevant at the age of 18 just as easily as s/he can be irrelevant at the age of 80. In other words, age is not really the issue to irrelevancy. Rather, it’s these simple factors:
Keep growing and self-educating: Many of us technical folks are required to continue our education for our respective certifications, etc. This is something that should not be taken lightly. All of those coming out of school are already trained on the latest and greatest.
Keep an open-mind: “They” {less experienced professionals} may not have our experience, but they’ve got the latest, and the latest is worthy of consideration and a real chance. Be creative in terms of how you can integrate your own intellectual capital into today’s tools and approaches.
Keep an open-heart: Be kind to yourself and others. Rather than reacting with indifference, frustration, or even anger at the ‘newest’ technologies, approaches, or solution…remain open-hearted in the sense that you will not get emotional about it. Being defensive, shunning the ‘new way’—these behaviors will not serve you well.
The good news is that—if one chooses to do so—s/he can remain highly relevant in their professional realms within that same time 18-80+span. We have control over this!
