Chillin' on Disruption - Time Travel Back to the 1950s

The cover of Fortune features GM CEO Mary Barra declaring, "We're not going to wait to be disrupted." 

There's now a popular legal sector podcast "Law, Disrupted and on it Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp details, you got it, the disruption at that firm. 

Netflix documentary "Martha" salutes Martha Stewart's brand disruption post-prison from diva to Everywoman who has suffered like the rest of us.

Obviously disruption is not only a good thing. It's necessary. 

Okay. But then why are we emotionally and spiritually time-traveling back to the 1950s? Axios reports some are rating life back then as better than the disrupted 21st century. So, the question is: Were we better off in the 1950s?

On the surface the 1950s had been about the reassurance of Eisenhower conformity, wildly successful corporate military-style structures and the predictable lifestyle routines presented on TV such as Jim Anderson on "Father Knows Best" always not only arriving home every night for family dinner but being totally present. 

Had the dashing John F. Kennedy campaigned for US President back then, promising to pass the torch to another generation, he probably would have lost. After The Great Depression and World War II the craving was for a rigid status quo.

Beneath the surface, though, as Betty Friedan outed in 1963 in the "Feminine Mystique," there were frustrated housewives. Meanwhile those females who chose to work or had to work had limited opportunities and were paid peanuts compared to men. Racism was standard. Sexuality was repressed. Authority could not be questioned. The Catholic Church had so much power over immigrants. Much of parenting was child abuse.

But to many that decade is being viewed as a far better time to be on planet earth than now. They include both we boomers who were there and those who wish they had been. 

I vividly recall the trust and confidence in what-is. There were clear rules. Don't break them and you were part of a community. No one, at least no one I knew, bowled alone. Being a part of meant people really did care about you. I don't think I imagined that. In 2001, at my sister's wake, folks from the "old neighborhood" wept about how those days had been the happiest in their lives. 

You also had a shot at becoming middle class, that is if you followed the rule about getting good grades and going to college. Knowledge jobs were growing. And middle class was good enough. There wasn't the chase after getting rich. The Anderson house was modest. 

Even the most ambitious currently among us might prefer to be in an era of no-pressure for extreme success and knowing that others authentically cared about you. 

But, come on, we have to face reality: We did go for the leader who disrupted things by passing the torch to another generation. Lost was being content with what-is. 

Meanwhile in my coaching clients face overwhelm with so much change. 

Life is hard. Business is even more difficult these days. Get answers – and relief. Jane Genova is a results-driven intuitive coach, tarot reader and content-creator related to careers. Complimentary consultation (please text/phone 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com)