Why Do We Wait to Respond to the Inevitable?

Posted by: Kris

How many times have we uttered the words, "It will never happen to me." and it happened anyway?  More importantly, how many times have we said, "I knew that was going to happen." and we hadn't made any preemptive strike to avoid the result?  Despite the pressure to act, despite knowing that the consequences of not acting will be more costly than doing something, we take our chances. 

For 30+ years in corporate America I've watched the inevitable coming, urged preemptive action but to no avail and waited with the mop and a broom.  We have a talent dirth, no arguments.  We have a highly dependable, experienced and sizeable Boomer workforce that will eventually leave the workplace, no question.  We have to start thinking out of the box, and to start thinking with an eye toward the future, the immediate future. That means implementing alternative work arrangements, part-time benefit and phased retirement programs and knowledge management practices are small investments in comparison to their potential payoffs.  So if we all agree, why aren't we choosing to respond to the inevitable?