I'm on a Role...

I was thinking this weekend about life as it relates to identity. Specifically that my identity (name, age, sex, SSN, etc.) is only a part of who I am. There are also roles that I have in my life that make up the other parts. There are static components of my identity, and there are fluid components of my identity.

As an example - when I was born, I was a son. When my sisters were born, I was a son, and a brother. Then I became a son, a brother, a cousin, a friend. Then I became a student, son, a brother, a cousin, a friend. Then I became an employee, student, son, a brother, a cousin, a friend. Then a boss, employee, student, son, a brother, a cousin, a friend. Then a father, boss, employee, student, son, a brother, a cousin, a friend. You get the idea.

My static identity did not change, however my roles throughout my life have changed.
So are we looking at managing the static components of our identity today, with the more complex components of identity (roles) being looked at for the future? How do we as an industry full of problem solvers tackle this one? Hmmm.

I am in an offsite Management meeting this week so I'll post when I can.