Stuck in Halftime (by Bob Buford)

The following is an “enhanced” version of the original text. The enhancements are probably pretty obvious — bobembry

In a few hundred years, when the history of our time is written from a long-term perspective, I think it very probable that the most important event those historians will remember is not technology, not the Internet, not e-commerce—but the unprecedented change in the human condition.

movies in time

For the first time—and I mean that literally—substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices.

For the first time, people have had to manage themselves.

managing oneself

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Larger thinking canvas (see below)

Dense reading and Dense listening ::: Thinking broad and Thinking detailed

And we are totally unprepared for it.

Up until around 1900, even in the most highly developed countries, the overwhelming majority of people simply followed in their father's footsteps—if they were lucky.

movies in time

If your father was a peasant farmer, you were a peasant farmer.

If he was a craftsman, you were a craftsman.

There was no such thing as upward mobility.

Now, suddenly, a large number of people choose what they want to be.

And what's more, they have more than one career.

The average working life span is now close to sixty years.

In 1900, it was twenty.

In a short time, we will no longer believe that retirement means the end of working life.

Retirement may even come much earlier than ever, but working life will continue if only out of economic necessity.

For many, however, working well beyond retirement will be a choice based on preference.

They will either tire of luxury or desire to use their knowledge and experience to contribute to society.

Knowledge: Its Economics and Its Productivity

(See what do you want to be remembered for? (beware of good intentions) and Post-Capitalist Society)

Even during their now traditional thirty- to forty-year working lives, most people have options that never existed for their parents, and they exercise those options several times.

When I talk to the people in my executive management program (successful people who are forty-five years old on average, sixty percent of whom are in the business sector, forty percent in nonbusiness), everyone says, “I do not expect to end my career where I am working now.” (implications for top management?)

To take advantage of this unprecedented age of options

we need to learn

(not school learning — but learning that becomes a part of you)

who we are

We don't know

When I ask my students, “Do you know what you’re good at?” almost no one knows. (calendarize this?)

Notice he didn’t say knowledge specialty. See taking on assignments

Elements of a work approach

I (bobembry) suggest you create a thinking canvas for each of his questions and regularly update them throughout your life.

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start-up

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tag structure

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thinking canvas system

Wall chart: radar blips to consider

“Do you know what you need to learn to get the full benefit of your strengths?” (calendarize this?)

Not one of them has even asked that question.

Again he's not talking about knowledge specialty, but that may be something you have to learn so you can employ your strengths.

knowledge technology

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Economic content & structure, money flows, efforts, and consumer lives

Few people know where they belong, what kind of temperament they have, or what kind of person they are.

“Do I work well with people or am I a loner?” (calendarize this?)

“What are my values?” (calendarize this?)

“What am I committed to?” (calendarize this?)

”Where do I belong?” (calendarize this?)

“What is my contribution?” (calendarize this?)

Many people intuitively know the answers to these questions, but because they do not work through them systematically, they often sell themselves short.

So we find ourselves in an unprecedented place: The most educated people in history, with a world full of options for meaningful work, and yet unsure of just where we belong. (calendarize “What is meaningful work?”)

Those who want to live a fulfilling life—who want to feel as if there is some purpose in their being on this earth—will have to learn to manage themselves.

They will have to accept the fact that it is their own responsibility to find meaningful work (he did't say job) that builds on their strengths and values. (calendarize this?)

Foundations for future directed decisions

Post-capitalist society ::: the transformation

Managing in the Next Society

Peter's Principles

From Analysis to Perception — The New Worldview

See The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Nonprofit Organization and Managing the Nonprofit Organization for clues to meaningful work

Josh Abrams and self-development summary

How to guarantee non-performance and

What results should you expect? — a user’s guide to MBO

Carefully choosing your nonprofit affiliations

Look here

What do you want to be remembered for?

As this happens, I believe more and more people will look to the social sector—volunteer organizations like the church, education, community services, and so on—for either a new career or one that parallels a current position.

This is the one place where the knowledgeable worker in an organization can actually discover who he or she is and can learn to manage him or herself.

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Man oneself Living

Living in More Than One World:
How Peter Drucker’s Wisdom Can Inspire Your Life by Bruce Rosenstein

managing volunteers

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Mission

Bob Buford has done a great service in his first book, Halftime, by showing people how to explore this wonderful world of options.

In this book he offers encouragement and motivation for those who have begun to seek their “Second Half career” but are not quite there … yet.

Stuck in Halftime (by Bob Buford)

Contents

Amazon

The World Is Full Of Options by Peter Drucker