Q: Our office has 4 full-time employees (including me). Three of us have worked here long enough to retire once, get re-hired, and work to within 3 years of a second retirement (FYI, I’m the odd man out of that group). I love the people I work with, but being so close to a second retirement has really mellowed their innovative spirits. Nobody wants to “rock the boat.” with new technologies, innovations, or ideas. How can I encourage innovation on my team when there is such great incentive to just stick with the status quo?
A: One idea is to suggest the idea of a legacy. What innovations will your workmates leave behind? What legacy can they leave that they themselves have created? How can they leverage their lifetime of experience to benefit others in one last push for career greatness? Consider planting that seed and seeing where it leads…maybe it will spark some new life into the group.
