Leadership's Future: Immaturity Is The New Black
by Miki SaxonI’m old enough to remember when maturity was something to strive for; when living with your parents post 18 made you a loser; when being cool also meant being independent and paying for your own place was a badge of honor.
But that was then and this is now.
Andrew Gordon sent me a link to a Washington Post article discussing how thirty-something is the new twenty-something (the comments are well worth reading, too).
In other words, people are “coming of age” far later in life than ever before.
Maybe this isn’t surprising, since people aren’t aging the way they did.
In books and films from the forties and before, even into the fifties, people in their fifties and sixties were described or portrayed as elderly, while those in their seventies and up were considered ancient—tell that to a Boomer if you want to die young.
But is it really necessary to delay growing up just because people are staying young longer?
Does staying young really require immaturity?
Has ‘adult’ become a dirty word synonymous with out-of-date, out-of-touch, unable to grow and change?
If so, we are in deep doo-doo.
Obviously, there are millions of responsible twenty and thirty-year-olds who are building careers and relationships and families.
But there are millions more who are still living at home; hanging out and who have no real concept of responsibility.
Then there are those who look great on the surface, but thwart them, throw a few obstacles their way, or scratch them with a real conversation and the immaturity oozes out.
If this keeps up the 2025 remake of “The 40 Year Old Virgin” will be “The 50Year Old Virgin” or maybe 55.
40 years ago Spock made being smart sexy.
How can we make maturity sexy?
Your comments—priceless
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Image credit: Culture Culte on flickr
July 27th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Hi Miki-
Thanks for the shout-out and link! Hope you’re doing well!
Andrew