Development In Young Professionals Needs Time

Jared Buckley / Career Development, Development, Leadership, Personal Development

The alarm starting chirping early this morning while it was still dark. I leaned my upper body out of the bed to silent the alarm. As I went to return back to my sleeping position, my body indention had been taken over. Stephen, nearly 3-years-old, had rolled into my comfortable position. I forced my way back onto my side of the bed.

The alarm sounded the second warning sign for me to get out of bed. This time, I had been pushed to the edge of our California King mattress. Irritated and frustrated I was getting kicked out of my own bed, I sat up to oversee my sleeping situation. From the right, I will count it off. Stephanie, my wife, was partially sleeping while feeding Jubylee, our 3-month-old little girl. Next to Jubylee was Noah, our third oldest 17-month-old and most agile sleeper. Sleeping next to Noah we had Fayth, our oldest 6-year-old, and then Stephen and myself.

Yes, you counted that correctly, 6, SIX people occupied my bed. I am not necessarily the most peaceful person to wake up, so obviously I was a bit irritated. As I got out of my bed, I thought, “How did we get here? How in the world did we start the night with 2 people in our bed and finish with 6? What happened last night?”

I am typically a very deep sleeper and will not remember most events during the night. However, I am still bewildered how I missed 4 additions to our bed over the night.

How Did We Get Here In Society

If you had been sleeping over the past 26 years and you woke this morning, would you be shocked by your surroundings? Let’s say in 1990, you were a 23-year-old young professional starting your career at an entry-level job after college. But then you fell asleep for 26 years. Yes, hypothetical obviously. Has there been any changes since 1990?

Could we say that we have developed in the last 26 years like no other timespan in the history of mankind? Has there ever been such a large swing in society during that short period of time? The technology development alone is insane. Phones in 1990 look like nothing today. Now these so-called cell phones have stolen the focus of nearly every human in this world. Faces are glued into these phones and people walking around with their earbuds in like they were the only ones in their small world. Computers are no longer luxury, but a necessary way of living. What about the internet? When did that happen?

The technological development alone is shocking, but what about society? How did we get here? What has happened? The once important qualities of the past have vanished into thin air. Gen Xers entering into the workforce faced a completely different society than the young professionals do today. Employers face a completely different working class like they have never seen before. Forget the stereotypes of millennials and simply notice the trends. Values, purpose, and priorities have changed. The advancement in technology has played a major role.

Still wondering how we got here?

Forget The Process When We Have The Solution

The thinking process has changed. What happened to critical thinking?

If you observe back 26 years ago or maybe even 50 years ago, how did people solve problems? They studied and collaborated with friends and colleagues. Today if someone has a problem, they simply jump on Google or YouTube to find their solution. In many regards, this is a great tool for society. However, like anything in this world, it can be abused.

We have now been conditioned to bypass the thinking process with a problem. We simply seek out the answer on the internet now. We are confident we will find all the information needed to solve our problem. However, where has our thought process run off to? The internet has become a crutch to many individuals today, especially those who do not possess the quality of critical thinking. Sweep the crutch away and they fall down to the ground.

The internet has picked up the speed of society. Okay, maybe it was the internet alone, but the speed of life is at a rapid speed. We don’t have time to think through a scenario. We don’t have time to learn how to accomplish a task. We need to be completed last week, before the problem ever arose.

We have every single answer in our front left pocket. Who needs to know how to fix a problem when the solution is already provided in a video? Sadly though, the value of process has been stolen by the abundantly provided solutions.

Where did critical thinking run off to? Where did the value of process disappear to? We need to resurrect some of these qualities.

Give It Some Time

Have you noticed patience is a passing virtue lacking in today’s society? Do you believe me? What has happened to time? Do we have to wait for anything anymore? We need to bring back the value of time. Businesses, organizations, and people need to see the importance of time. Sometimes the greatest gift a person could be given is time.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” What’s the key here? Time. Could he finish cutting down a tree in half the time if he only sharpened the blade for 1 hour? One may think. However, speeding up preparation or process can cut (pun intended) into the efficiency of execution.

Speeding up preparation or process can cut into the efficiency of execution.

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If you are pressed on time, ask why. What would time provide for you? How can you maximize more time? Instead of eliminating the time involved, what can time provide for you? Be patient and press into what time will provide.

Value The Process

When we focus all that we have on the solution, we might forget about the value of the process. If you are looking to grow or develop in an area, value the process it takes to reach your goal, solution, or answer. What can be learned from the process? Can you apply your experience in the process? If you solved a problem, can that problem solving procedure be replicated?

Be careful on jumping on the bandwagon of following every provided system known to man. A systematized process is good in many regards, but not all systems are a one-size-fits-all scenario. Especially when you are talking bout personal, career, or leadership development. These processes take time and are seldomly exactly reproducible to every person. There are nuggets and key ingredients to the development, but the whole system can not be applied to everyone. There are too many factors in development to have a systematized procedure for everyone.