top of page
Writer's pictureAlison Conigliaro-Hubbard

Smart vs. Wise: Why Thriving Workplaces Need Both

"๐™๐™๐™š ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™ก๐™ฎ ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ช๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™จ๐™™๐™ค๐™ข ๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช ๐™ ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฌ ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฉ๐™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ."ย โ€“ ๐™Ž๐™ค๐™˜๐™ง๐™–๐™ฉ๐™š๐™จ


A couple weeks ago, I read a post that included Mark Zuckerbergโ€™s famously stated, "๐™”๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™š๐™ง ๐™ฅ๐™š๐™ค๐™ฅ๐™ก๐™š ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™Ÿ๐™ช๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™จ๐™ข๐™–๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง." Zuckerberg made this comment at the age of 22, and it sparked a cultural undercurrent of ageism in the workplaceโ€”one that is very much alive and kicking (literally and figuratively if you ask some of my GenX peers) today.


After being reminded of this statement, it didnโ€™t take me long to think about this in a broader context. Is โ€œsmartโ€ really the whole story?


Younger employees are smart in ways that matter. They bring a fresh lens to the world, one shaped entirely by the digital age. Their ability to adapt quickly, leverage new tools, and see opportunity in disruption, makes them invaluable.


๐—•๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒโ€™๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด: ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜€๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ปโ€™๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ.


Wisdom doesnโ€™t come from an algorithm or an online course. Itโ€™s earnedโ€”through time, experiences, reflection, and lessons learned the hard way. Wisdom comes from navigating complexity, weathering storms, and growing from those moments that challenge everything you thought you knew.


๐—œ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ, ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ.


The innovation and fresh perspective of younger employees paired with the seasoned judgment and broader perspective of more experienced colleagues create an unbeatable combination. Together, they can tackle problems that neither could solve alone.


๐—ช๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต. Instead of debating whether youth or experience โ€œwins,โ€ what if you focused on how the best teams bring them together?



๐—”๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ฎ ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ?




Comments


Post: Blog2_Post
bottom of page