August 17, 2003
Joan Axelrod-Contrada, Globe Correspondent
Remember the book "Passages" by Gail Sheehy?
Author Maddy Dychtwald thinks Sheehy's book is rapidly becoming obsolete. In "Cycles," Dychtwald argues that much has changed since Sheehy came out with her landmark book in 1976. No longer do people go through such predictable adult transitions.
Instead, Dychtwald says, people increasingly are leading lifestyles in which age has become irrelevant. It's not unusual to see a 35-year-old or a 65-year-old starting a new career, a 20-year-old or a 70-year-old getting married, and a 45-year-old or a 25-year-old graduating from school.
Dychtwald attributes this shift from the linear to the cyclic to three factors. First, people are living longer. Second, the youth market is steadily declining. And, finally, baby boomers are revolutionizing how we age.
As a result, people of the same age and socioeconomic class often choose different lifestyles. One 50-year-old man might choose early retirement and the traditional retiree lifestyle. Another man the same age might quit his job and become an entrepreneur. A third might marry a younger woman and start a new family.
These differences, says Dychtwald, present both challenges and opportunities for businesses. The 50-year-old retiree, for instance, might be in the market for new golf clubs, the new entrepreneur for a contractor to build his home office, and the midlife father-to-be for a minivan.
Dychtwald, a consultant specializing in generational marketing, sees numerous opportunities for businesses willing to be creative.
For instance, she points to kitchenware stores offering cooking classes in response to increasing interest in continuing education and a banking company that helps couples with financial issues.
In her chapter on "love cycles," Dychtwald describes how maintaining one primary relationship throughout a lifetime was simpler when life was short and there were few alternatives. Increasingly, she says, people are adopting a lifestyle of "cyclic monogamy" like that of anthropologist Margaret Mead years ago. Dychtwald quotes Mead, who was married three times, as saying, "The first time was for romance; the second was for family, and the third was for companionship."
Indeed, lifestyle variations abound. Remaining single has become more acceptable. Men, rather than women, sometimes stay home with the children. And blended families are the norm. Work, too, has become increasingly cyclic. As life has become longer and the pace of change faster, career transitions have become more common. Many jobs are now offered on a contract basis. Boomers, says Dychtwald, will change jobs - even careers - more often than any generation in history.
With cyclic careers more common, lifelong learning has become more of a necessity. In addition, older people are flocking to lifelong learning to maintain their vitality. Dychtwald predicts that one day "mind spas" might do for mental acuity what health clubs have done for physical fitness.
Far out? Perhaps, but intriguing nonetheless. Dychtwald, though, appears less prescient in her chapter on recreation. She argues that recreation under the old model of linear living was primarily a phase for children and retirees. But, you might ask, what about all those middle-aged golfers? Perhaps recreation has more to do with socioeconomic class than with the new cyclic lifestyle, after all.
However, for the most part, Dychtwald presents a thought provoking, well-reasoned argument. Her book is packed with anecdotes, making for a lively read.
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