I’m mixing it up a little this week, and my Friday quote is NOT from Humanize. In fact, I’m going to go back in time a year or two (0r 50) to pull a quote from the great Bob Dylan:
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’.
After I posted my “Open Letter to HR” last week, I got a tweet from Bruce Kneuer (@bkneuer) who suggested I adopt this song as a theme song.
Dylan was writing about the 1960s, of course, and the youthful rebellion that shaped an entire generation in this country. It wasn’t just about youth rebelling against parents. That happens all the time. It was that huge and powerful rebellion that ushered in new values, like optimism, and working for a cause. It was the beginning of a new era.
And, of course, I think we’re at the end/beginning of a couple of eras right now when it comes to management. The social media revolution isn’t really about social media (just like the youth rebellion wasn’t about youth). It’s about accessing new power. It’s about a different kind of leadership. And the change is permanent. We’re not going back. So please, get out of the new road if you can’t lend your hand!