On defining by distinctiveness, not difference
Here’s another post that appears at first glance to be nothing to do with career and work at 50+. But you know where it’s heading, so relax and read on.
I wrote a post last summer about an unexpected connection between one of my former occupations researching the town house in eighteenth century London and my current activity and interests in work and careers at 50+. My point then was about the consistency in what piques my interest and drives my activity across very dissimilar domains.
But I realise now that there is another connection within my research itself. When setting out on my studies, I was struck by how architectural historians had only ever considered the town house as an adjunct to the country house. They talked dismissively about its lesser status, its lesser importance and its minimal interest relative to the country house. That is, they took as their starting point what the town house wasn’t rather than what it was. As a result, I argued, their picture was both partial and inaccurate.
By looking at the town house in its own right, my research began to unravel and understand its story and make sense of its form and treatment by architects and builders and the significant and distinctive role it played for its owners and occupants. Because what matters in the end is the lived experience at the individual level.
To take another flying leap between disparate cultural reference points, I liked hearing what Baroness Sue Campbell, Director of Women’s Football at the FA, had to say about the approach taken by a group looking at the women’s game (BBC 4, Women’s Hour, 5 June 2023): “[O]ne of the really reassuring parts […] is their recognition that this needs to be built differently, that we need to think differently. And actually we’ve stopped using the word ‘different’. We’ve started using the word ‘distinctive’. Understanding what is distinctive about the women’s game, what makes it special. And how do we grow that.”
Because here’s the thing: If you persist in defining by difference, you devalue whatever it is that you’re defining. You don’t look at it on its own terms, but always in relation to something else. As a consequence, you will never fully understand it, always leave some bits in the shadows, never work out what it offers or what it needs, and continually get things wrong while thinking that you’re getting them right and doing good.
We need to stop doing that in relation to working in later life. It’s not lesser. It’s not different from. It’s distinctive and it needs to be looked at on its own terms, and in all of its variety at the individual level.
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Do you want to provide better support to your employees at 50+? Then start by understanding their distinctiveness. I can help with that. If you would like more information about how, then get in touch to learn more about my talks and workshops and other services for organisations and individuals.
Photo by Mulyadi on Unsplash