That said, I do like the fact that the journalist referred to my favorite article from Arthur Brooks, and, specifically, his thoughts about the professional decline we often experience later in our careers. The article highlights the fact that as we get older, our crystallized intelligence grows. Simply put, we’re more equipped to “connect the dots” and think systemically, especially around complex problems (and, boy, do we have a lot of those right now).
Thinking holistically and tapping into one’s intuition based upon pattern recognition are qualities that can grow with age. However, so can our blind spots about imagining what we’ve never seen before. This dual possibility is especially true when someone has spent a half-century in Washington, D.C. The question is clear: can Biden “think outside the box” (or “outside the beltway”) and become a catalyst for solutions that don’t rely on past thinking?
The President has his work cut out for him. And time is of the essence. It will be interesting to see whether age is a relevant factor in how he governs.