c. 2026 Cheryl Keller, Rod Ice
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Mermaid Opinion:
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks - or something like that. Boy, “they” always seem to have quite a lot of insight into, well, just about everything. I’m not sure “they” have all the infinite wisdom “they” claim to have, but those sayings at times can hit pretty close to home. As I get older and work my way towards the end of my career, I can see some truth in those words “they” say about age, but I think it has more to do with the “new tricks” than the “old dog”.
I am a firm believer in, and staunch advocate for, experience over book smarts. You can have multiple degrees neatly hanging on the walls of your office in those distinguished black document frames, and still be lost in the building. It’s good to have the outline to the paper with those accolades, but the body paragraphs can’t be filled in and developed without putting time in and getting your hands dirty. I know I sound as if I am not a fan of higher education, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. If someone is fortunate enough to be able to have that as a life option, knowledge is never wasted and college can give people that jumpstart needed, as well as some tools that will definitely help once they enter the workforce.
But, when it comes to being successful at work, time is what you need. Time to learn, time to grow and ultimately, time to thrive. Developing competency with on-the-job training is essential to success. Learning how to adapt overall skill sets to the task at hand; the industry at hand does not always come easy for everyone. Book learning and lecture hall learning does not always prepare people, nor help them when they land their dream job. Being able to utilize that knowledge and make it work for you in a working environment is key, and it is critical knowing that walking into that new workplace, diploma in hand, is only half the battle. That other half, if not more, is what you learn boots on the ground. And that is where your veteran employees come into play - aka, the “old dogs”.
Smart new employees know who to cozy up to during their training or probationary period. Even if their HR department is exceptional and their training is scheduled and mapped out in detail for them, learning which coworkers have the experience and the historical insights should be number one on their to-do list. Those “old dogs” are going to have that organizational knowledge that isn’t captured in any company policy, process or procedure. Companies tend to do a poor job at documenting that information floating around in the heads of their long-term employees that can be so beneficial to have once they are long gone. Unfortunately, they figure out what they are missing when they need it the most.
As an “old dog” myself, having my career surpass 30 years at the same company (I still can’t believe that), I have quite a bit of knowledge filed away between my ears that isn’t documented anywhere and it has its own system of retrieval. Sometimes retrieval is quick and easy and other times not so much; and sometimes that ease and speed depends on who’s asking; insert growl here. As the years have passed, and my experience has grown, I have often been challenged with learning new tasks or adding to my perpetual plate. Sometimes it was undertaken with excitement and other times it came frustratingly without choice. Or as a co-worker once called it, I was “voluntold” for the new assignment or responsibility. Never once though did I feel as if I was incapable of learning the “new trick”, but there were absolutely times where I felt that I didn’t want it. So, to speak to “they” who say “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks...” I think it’s important to recognize the assumption in that statement, because it may just be that Fido doesn’t need nor want to learn the new trick. He could simply just be content with where he is.
Woof, Woof!
Walrus Response:
My aquatic cohort has a particular knack for hitting every target dead-center. And she has done so here, once again, as someone with a wealth of business experience. I must confess to being slightly envious of her run with a single employer for such an extended period, as someone who labored for five different commercial chains, in addition to three newspapers and one national magazine. I cannot imagine the clarity and sense of purpose generated by serving in an institution to the point of literally becoming a fixture, and a valued point of reference. It causes me to cheer over her intellectual prowess, and endurance.
But to the issue at hand, I do agree with her two-part proposition.
First, as an unenrolled seeker, wandering around Cornell University and interacting with those were better attuned to the process of receiving a formal education, I witnessed the disparity between those earning a veritable wall hanger, and those who actually grew from spending time in a classroom environment. Some simply seemed to desire having a badge of honor to pin on their chests. And the result was little more than a smarmy amount of arrogance. While others blossomed from the fertile loam of higher learning. In the end, I reckoned that it all came down to the sort of person they had been before any induction into the student body. A human head can be dutifully crammed with facts and figures, but the heart is harder to influence. Therefore, some remain stuck in a doom-loop of irrelevance, even after being granted an opportunity to soar beyond the horizon.
I would take someone with a strong work ethic over any pretender with a sheaf of newly-minted degrees.
Second, as Mermaid rightly points out, it is quite often an old dog who accepts extra tasks and responsibilities within any organization. I have heard some observe, ‘Give a busy person something to do, and it will get done!’ This mantra might seem counterintuitive at first, but bears up well under careful consideration.
Those who are unwilling to push limits are in the end, often unwilling to better themselves, and their company.
As an example, I recall meeting a fellow during my television apprenticeship, who had earned a degree in communications from a crosstown school in my part of New York State, Ithaca College. Yet instead of finding employment in his field, and earning an income from those acquired skills, he instead was an applicant for welfare assistance. That conflict puzzled me as a young teenager. I pondered what he lacked to have fallen into destitution, and despair.
In another instance, during my career as a salaried retail manager, I visited the Painesville location of our parent chain. There, during a lunch break with other participants in training, I met a woman in charge of their Health & Beauty department. She spoke about receiving graduates from a notable business program in Pittsburgh, who were immediately promoted to supervisory positions, and sent to various locations like her own. But the rub was in their complete lack of real-world experience. Union clerks with a meager amount of educational accolades had to guide these naïve candidates with care and understanding.
These old dogs proved their worth, despite being overlooked from the beginning.
My worry, in those yonder days, and now as I reflect on what my friend has written here, is over the inevitable cycle of hiring and retirement. As those veterans exit with their gold watches and wishes of good cheer, who will take over? Who will carry the torch for future generations? Who will continue the quest for excellence and achievement?
That is a query I could not answer, when still in the workforce. And I have no better insight, as a retired fellow tapping away at my keyboard.
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