One person worked two jobs, so we overcorrected
A country spent three centuries building the walls higher. Then it stopped.
Read the full essayFull show notes
One employee worked two jobs at once. The company’s answer was to rebuild how everyone worked.
In 1995, nearly 250,000 people were evacuated from the Dutch river country as the Rhine, the Waal, and the Meuse swelled toward the dikes. Eight-year-old Carina Verbeek was one of them. Ryan Vet follows what the Netherlands did next: three centuries of raising the walls, then Room for the River, then another recalibration. Then he turns to two overcorrections of his own: the software and co-working mandates that followed one remote employee with two jobs, and the spending controls he removed for a senior leader who opened credit lines in the company’s name.
Every generation answers what formed it. Almost never the person in front of you.
In this episode:
- Why the Dutch kept raising dikes after the 1953 flood, and why 1995 forced a rethink
- How Room for the River (2006 to 2015) widened channels, lowered floodplains, and relocated nearly 200 families and 16 farms
- The Generational Pendulum: we live it, we push back, we go too far, we find a better way
- Two overcorrections from Ryan’s own companies, in opposite directions
- Why leading people means asking what formed them, not what label they carry
Go deeper: Read the full COLLIDE essay at ryanvet.com/collide/one-person-worked-two-jobs-so-we-overcorrected, and subscribe to COLLIDE at ryanvet.com/collide.
About Ryan Vet
Ryan Vet is a USA TODAY bestselling author, futurist, and international keynote speaker whose insights on generations, culture, and the future of work have been featured in Forbes, Financial Times, ABC, NBC, and CBS. His research helps leaders understand emerging generational patterns and anticipate societal shifts before they fully unfold.
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