Thursday, July 20, 2006

One generation has resulted in huge change

I recently came across a book which I had bought 25 years ago when I was promoted to a General Management position. This book gave much of the same advice which "onboarding" experts these days, such as PrimeGenesis, provide. However, there was one key difference. These days we knwo that the first 60 to 90 days are the crucial ones. A generation ago, we had more time. While today's books talk about the first 100 days or first 90, the book from 1981, is titled "Shooting the Executive Rapids - The First Crucial Year of a New Assignment."

These days, we live in an accelerated world. Today, we regard multi-tasking as normal. Snap judgements as essential. Yet human physiology and psychology has not changed in the past 50 years. So each time we acccelerate some work or increase the load, something suffers. We do something less well. Research tells us that we sleep too little, more sleep improves our thinking processes, yet we take pride in how little sleep we get. We do more things less well, but will not admit it to anyone for fear of being seen as weak or old.

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