In his Wall Street Journal article “Want My Advice? Um, Not Really”, Jeffrey Zaslow writes that times may really be changing when it comes to the under-35 generation figuring things out and seeking guidance. How the world operates has changed so much from even 10 years ago, and continues to change at such a fast rate, that the historical condition of greater life experience leading to greater knowledge simply no longer applies in many cases. In addition, with YouTube and other web sources, people can find their own answers with much less need to rely on mom, dad, teachers, or bosses. And of course those sources apply no judgment nor preconceptions to the problem or the answer seeker!
Zaslow points out that it is simply true that many long standing tenets, such as the notion that owning a home is better than renting or that writing a great resume is the most important step to obtaining a job interview, are not true in today’s world as they used to be.
On the plus side, he points out that this “leveling of the relationships between old and young” means that kids feel more comfortable giving advice to parents. As a mom who has already relied on her 7 year old to figure out parts of software applications, I like having this great resource for shortcut solutions to problems I don’t care to research myself!
Who and what do you turn to when you need advice or help solving a problem? Do you find that what your parents have to say is not as useful or applicable as it used to be? Is YOUR advice less appropriate in today’s world? What comes to mind as positive or as troubling implications of this trend to devalue accumulated experience?
There are some other great quotes and stories in the article about well-intended advice missing the mark and you can read the whole thing here http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704421104575463540853116732.html
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