Beach Thoughts

My grandchildren remind me that time moves with astonishing speed. Just yesterday, their parents were building sandcastles, playing in the waves, and falling asleep with sunburned noses. In this season of family vacation, we try to take a week at the shore together every year; I find a growing awareness that grandchildren mark the passing of the generational torch.

It also reminds me that retirement does not mean you stop working. Working just gets redefined. We both find joy in working with younger people and taking on the role of coach or mentor. Age teaches us that telling is far less productive than asking great questions. The why versus the what!

When I talk to groups about governance, leadership, or radar, I find that a shared experience, both the good and the not-so-good, set beside the right questions, is a productive way to coach and mentor. One of the best questions is “What do you see in the data that others don’t?”  Why don’t you ask? Sometimes it isn’t the facts that matter, but one's perspective of the facts.

I often think that scar tissue, i.e., experience, can be the best teacher. I find the best coaches and mentors share scar tissue as examples, but not absolutes. One of the best questions I had to answer was, “What are facts, and what are assumptions?”

 Finally, as I see my grandchildren on their devices, I grow concerned about the loss of human interaction, the sense of emotion, joy, or pain that AI and technology take away from human interaction, conversation, and presence. I value Zoom as a tool, but wearing PJ bottoms changes the vibe. Conversation over a cup of coffee is a different conversation. Relationships with friends, customers, suppliers, and employees matter. Somehow, we need to leverage technology and keep the nuances that come with human contact. Isolation can't be healthy long-term.

I also think about the loss of checks and balances in our political systems, our environment, and in our economy—the notion of the common good, opportunity, the rule of law, equity of opportunity. Time is not our friend here, and the world my grandchildren will inherit is being shaped by decisions being made now. Our history is one that thought of future generations; where is that behavior now? Bills are coming due. In the environment, in our cities, our politics, our worldview, and in our focus on the me vs. the we.

So, I sit on the beach, watch the waves roll in as they have forever. I think of the recent moon mission and the picture from space of the planet Earth. A reminder that we are all one.

And if we are, that is the lesson, meaning, listening, and coaching we need to bring as we hand off to our next generation. Values matter. So does action.