Thought Leader Interview: Mauro Guillen

Age really is just a number! In a wide-ranging interview, the Wharton School's Vice Dean argues that there is nothing naturally preordained about what we should be doing at different ages. The sequential model of life (school, work, retirement) is nothing but a social and political construction, he says. The confluence of rising life expectancy, enhanced physical and mental fitness and technology-driven knowledge and interaction fundamentally alter dynamics over the entire life course, redefining what we can do at different ages. As a result, a 'post-generational' society is emerging comprising 'Perennials' - people who are not characterized by the decade in which they were born. The result: more opportunities for people of all ages to change course, take gap years and reinvent themselves. Those who understand the potential of the Perennial mindset, says Guillen, will enter a new era of unrestricted living, learning, working and consuming.