Why is it there is so much irresponsibility? What is wrong with companies - what is wrong with the government - what is wrong with people. Why is there no responsibility? - but no lack of cardinal sins! The Catholic church had not yet met a modern politician when they described the 7 cardinal sins. There are many more.
Back to my epiphany - it is partly genetic and with our current system inevitable.
A friend of mine, a mentor, many years ago described a theory on organization development that I might present here one day. It is based on a personal development theory.
The basic idea is that there seems to be tendency for us humans to have our life develop in stages. Some propose these stages are 7 years long. Here is a description of such a theory. Of course not all people are the same and not all go through the same stages, nor do I believe these stages have an exact length, but there is a tendency. E.g (prefixes are all mine):
Small child (1-7)
Bigger child (7-14)
Teenager, youngster (14-21)
Young adult (21-28)
Adult (28-35)
Mature adult (35-42)
Early middle age (42-49)
Mature middle age (49-56)
Early old age (56-63)
Elder (63-70)
Old (70-77)
Do not pay to much attention to the names given for the ages - they are just to present the concept. But I would like to point out some tendencies which are both based on genetics, the development of the human psyche and culture. With age we (a majority of people) tend to go from extreme egocentric to the somewhat opposite. A child sees itself as the center of the world. It loves receiving presents. An older person knows he or she is the not the center of the world and the pleasure is in giving. Thus parents often rediscover the joy of Christmas through the eyes of their children.
An older person likes to offer wisdom. A younger person studies to gain wisdom. A younger person is very busy studying, starting a career, forming a family and making a career. An older person will often have more time for consideration.
I am myself in my forties (I think - I no longer keep careful track). I have to my wonderment discovered that I no longer know everything. In fact - the older I get - the less I find out I know. My son is a teenager and he of course knows absolutely everything and is never wrong.
Some people acquire wisdom earlier than others - some never do. It has also to do with IQ and life experiences. I am still waiting to find my wisdom. Perhaps around a future corner? On the other hand, I will claim, I am a lot smarter than at 17.
Back to my epiphany. There is a tendency, at least in the western world, that company managers and politicians become younger. There is an even stronger tendency - that the elderly, not to mention the old, no longer are found in companies and also more rare in politics. This is in spite of older people never having been as healthy as today.
There is the example of comparatively young world leaders, a minister of taxation in Denmark of 26, and CEOs in their twenties.
Recently, I saw a German television program. It was about age discrimination in the work place. In Germany, when you are 45, you are no longer considered for any job (slightly exaggerated - but not much).
Personally, I have always been of the opinion that elders have a thing or two to teach. They bring moderation, continuity and experience to organisations where they participate. In fact all age groups are necessary for a healthy society. To a degree that goes for a company as well.
Studies like the one mentioned in the Telegraph here, are typical. Older people will outperform younger people when it comes to long term strategic decision making.
And finally we get to the cusp of my epiphany. The company managers, the public sector managers and the politicians are simply not grown up. They are not old enough for long term strategic planning and they (especially around here) only think about personal gain. They are like small children.
To this we need to add the fact that leadership positions attract a statistical significant additional number of borderline (and worse) personalities compared to the population in general. We talk narcissists, psychopaths, megalomaniacs etc.
Consider that 1 in 25 managers may be psychopaths.
When you combine all that into a politician - how can it not go badly? I can see some advantages to a 26 year old, per definition still rather egocentric, "I want it all", minister of taxation. At least he might bring in some additional revenue - 105% tax would not give him any sleepless nights. With some luck he won't keep it all, as the ministers of taxation no longer have the keys for the vaults.
But when we talk about health, education or social affairs, not to mention a prime minister - perhaps persons of responsibility, experience, with sense of empathy, with an ability for strategic planning and a desire for a better world - would be better candidates.
Perhaps there is a reason why some countries have a minimum age for politicians. I think we would all be better served with rather high minimum ages. Combined with a personality check, the human race might survive after all.
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