Conversations in Management: Aldous Huxley Brave New World

"Experience only teaches the teachable." -Aldous Huxley

Aldous Huxley is best known today as the author of Brave New World (1931). In that work, Huxley provides a vision of a dystopian future in which science and technology play dominant roles. It’s a one-world government in which Soviet communism and American capitalism have blended to produce an oppressive society noteworthy for the contentment of its citizens. Unlike the societies soon to be spawned by Stalin, Hitler, and Mao (as well as scores of other less prolific tyrants) that were built on fear and brutality, Huxley’s World State suppressed individuals by conditioning them to be satisfied. It’s a world in which the highs and lows of daily living have been leveled and in which state sponsored pleasure is provided to take care of all human desires. The capstone of it all is the drug soma which has the mellowing impact of alcohol but none of the nasty side effects. In short, the population is so satisfied that they don’t realize they should be dissatisfied. They are so comfortable, that experience has ceased to be their teacher.

And that’s how it is with a lot of us. After surviving years of school and serving apprenticeships at work and home, we believe we’ve arrived. We believe that by dint of our experience and attendant seniority we’ve figured out how things should be done. We’ve learned that the right way is usually our way. The neon sign above our door reads, “Don’t rock the boat.” (The more adamant among might add, “…or else!”) We’re comfortable, and just as the characters in Brave New World, we’ve let ourselves become unteachable.

Not surprisingly, this is a leading source of tension in the workplace. When those who haven’t arrived bump into those of us who have, it’s seldom a pleasant encounter. The innovators tend to disparage seniority. They believe that folks with decades on the job visit paleontologists when they get sick. They look at old timers and see dinosaurs that resist change out of spite. And it’s no better in the other direction. Seasoned workers often figure that if a new idea is so good, they would have thought of it themselves. They’re dismissive of theory and book learning. They don’t believe in changing what’s working and find innovators naive—at best.

Strangely enough, this isn’t necessarily age related. There are some recent graduates who are more rigid in their thinking—and more unteachable—than an octogenarian. And there are some septuagenarians who promote new ideas with the zeal of an evangelist. The key is taking a hard look at yourself and asking if you’ve lost the capacity to learn from your experience. Have you gotten so comfortable with life that you can’t see that there might be a better way of doing things—both professionally and personally? Has your world become a soma-like state in which you function by habit rather than desire? Are you still teachable?

It’s a new day—perhaps a new world—so try something new. Let experience be your teacher.