New Research indicates that older people are indeed wise, both in knowing how to deal with conflicts between people and in accepting life’s uncertainties. This is called social wisdom.

- recognising that values differ among people,

- accepting that uncertainties are in fact a certainty,

- accepting that things change over time,

- and acknowledging others’ points of view.

This is different to knowing stuff about technologies. As technology becomes the new playground the rules are the same but they execute differently. As photographers who ran successful businesses become last year's model they are easily discarded by a new generation of ‘hip’. To survive, do the men start shaving their heads, growing small goatlike beards, colouring their wardrobe black and wearing sunglasses inside? Do the women colour their hair more frequently, use loud nail-polish and wear more layered clothing? These become obvious markers of people trying to keep up with another generation. Because all of these things are obvious ‘disguises’ for agedness it is possible that they do little to generate a sense of trust. It's true that clients make judgements on appearance ... we all do ... Experience used to count for so much, as did social wisdom. It should matter more ... It used to be that being in business for 30 or 40 years meant that you were good at what you do and that you had probably made all of the mistakes you were going to. Now it means ‘been around too long and potentially boring’. It is our job to stay fresh, move with the times and make our experience matter. This is not about always owning the latest filters but about not resting on the laurels of our pasts. Espousing our social wisdom without ever using the expression “in my day” creates a unique point of difference. Applying that experience to the new understanding of image ownership puts you ahead of a vibrant new kid on the block with lots of thoughts but no idea. As you get older the only real ‘hip’ upgrade happens in a hospital under anaesthetic.... so it comes down to using your social wisdom to keep ahead of the play. Cheers, Johannes