Fuelled by science, at Extend My Runway we help people perform better....for longer.
The three-phase life--upbringing, work and family life, and then retirement--no longer describes our lifeโs journey. Thanks to advances in modern science and nutrition, and lifestyle changes, 70 is now often described as the new 50. People are living longer and the quality of life and work during those added years can be extremely high if we invest in our well-being.
Itโs not just about adding years to life, but adding life to more years.
While living better and longer can be an enormous blessing, most people and organizations are unprepared for working and contributing well past the traditional retirement age. Because we have structured society, work life, and narratives in a way that promotes retirement in our 60s:
People are underprepared for a longer life. How many amongst us can afford a 30-35 year retirement with no additional income? Do we know the lifestyle practices that bring out the unique capabilities found mostly in older professionals? The three-stage life of school-work-retirement that we were taught to prepare for is a poor source of insight for how to thrive during a 100-year life.
Organizations are tossing aside a tremendous resource at a time when, in ageing societies, we face a rapidly-approaching labor shortage. In Singapore alone, the labor shortage by 2030 has been projected (by Korn Ferry, a consultancy) to possibly exceed 1 million workers with a potential unrealised output of $106.8 billion.
Societies struggle with ageism, and and a passion for youth, that causes us to overlook an amazing resource.
The coming changes associated with an ageing society will be amongst the biggest the world has ever seen--on par with the industrial revolution. Never in human history have we had a period where such a large segment of society is composed of older citizens while the birth-rate remains so low.
Societies organized around for caring for the young are going to have to make dramatic shifts in policy, employment, mindset and practice as we become societies that must attend to the ageing population.
The good news is that, thanks to advances in neurosciences and adult development research, we know that people who are living longer can continue to work, grow and learn. This offers us an amazing opportunity. We can now invest in older professionals and develop what is called the fourth-stage of adult development development. This investment, in turn, offers to the world unique resources that we have never before had access to on such a broad scale.
As we age, people arenโt simply wiser and more experienced (which of course is true in many cases). Later in life we also become much better at managing complexity, procedural memory, innovative cognition and creativity to name a few. In societies where automation is taking hold and employees will need more human qualities, donโt these benefits of the fourth stage of adult development sound exactly like the kind of resources we need?
So why arenโt we doing more to leverage that resources that no other segment of society can offer?
Thatโs where Extend My Runway steps in. We work with individuals and firms to help professionals literally extend their runway. We want to help people and firms develop the talent they need for an age of increased complexity, talent gaps, and people living and working longer (i.e., read The 100 Year Life by Gratton and Scott).
We also want to help an ageing population add more life tot heir years, whether that be at work, home, or play.
Itโs a myth that we need to put people out at pasture in their 60s. Science teaches that these experienced executives have something unique to offer, and at Extend My Runway we work with individuals and organizations to raise awareness, increase capability, and actually deploy these unique resources across the world.
