Musings at Altitude

When I was young, I cherished the more experienced guys on the team because they certainly had been through situations very similar to whatever was being thrown at us at that time.  Of course none of them ever told me any differently, wanting to be the respected sage or the trusted elder in whatever crisis we were addressing.

But now that I’m the sage or elder in so many different situations, what I’m finding is that all that experience keeps me calmer in approaching resolution, but it certainly hasn’t given me the answer very often. 

The stuff happening today is very different than what I experienced in my formative years.  The issues are different.  The tools to resolve issues are different.  The expectations of clients or partners or team members are different.  The world itself is now different and what is now considered success may be measured and determined very differently than the way it was even a decade ago.

Experience certainly gives you perspective.  It also gives you a history of options of how to respond to the situations that arise.  And maybe most importantly, it prepares you for the communications that may be needed and the emotions that may arise.

But rarely does it give you answers. 

Too much changes too fast.

And hopefully all that experience will allow me to change with the times.