Generational Difference. NOT?
“There's No Such Thing as Millennials or Boomers” the headline reads followed by the subtitle “Generational labels get us fired up, but they’re science fiction.” Link to article below
What the What? I’m a Generational Diversity consultant who helps companies deal generational frictions. Am I being called a hoaxer?
I completely agree with the article opener:
· Discriminatory generational stereotypes promote arbitrary boundaries and need to be done away with.
· Personality traits are shared by all generations, both positive and negative.
· As a culture can get overwrought by trying to assign too much meaning to generational difference.
Baby Boomers were the first to receive a generational label. By whom? Marketing execs – think Madmen. Their research – neither hard science nor science fiction – showed purchasing trends among shoppers who were born during the population boom after WWII. Knowing how to exploit these traits contributed to an equally large economic boom.
How did the Boomer generation transform into Gen X? I imagine the baby boom subsided along with a shift in social, economic, political, educational, technological, environmental circumstances.
These shifts are organic, not imposed. No malice, no manipulation. Sociologists, demographers, and cultural anthropologists assure us that generational labels are used to help us make sense of what has happened, is happening, and will happen next.
How Do I Know What I know?
Because for several years court administrators, foundations, school administrators, advertising, construction, insurance, and manufacturing companies have hired me to help them communicate with team members who are old enough to be their parents or young enough to be their children. Many company leaders happen to be baby boomers and find this disconnect baffling because we didn’t experience this struggle with our bosses back in the day. Did we?
Think a minute: as a boomer, I used the same means of communication in college that my dad thirty years earlier: telephone, typewriter, and what we now call snail-mail. I don’t think I can name all the options my millennial son has to communicate. I do, however, remember that it was imperative he have his own laptop computer when he left for college.
As brilliant as every means of electronic communication is though, it often interferes with building the kind of trust & understanding that face to face communication does. This lack of meaningful face to face interaction is, I believe, at the root of our generational conflicts.
How do we convert our communication difficulties into trust, understanding, and collaboration?
· We get team members of all ages together in one room and share stories of times we have encountered generational difference. Quickly we realize that we are all in this together. No matter our age, there are times that we baffle each other.
· I then hand out a one-page chart headed with each of the five generations in today’s workplace. Listed are key social, economic, political, educational, technological, environmental milestones and their effects for each generation. Once people locate their generation on the chart, they can consider what descriptions they match and where/how they differ. Next, they check to see how people they know in other generations fit the descriptors. With this the conversation takes on a life of its own.
Here’s what I have learned from the five hundred people that I have shared this process with:
1) There has been overwhelming support for putting generational differences in a context that seeks to explain them – not judge. I will never forget the millennial who shouted during a session: “Oh my god, I think I understand my parents!”
2) There is recognition that we all cross generational borders in some respects. One woman concluded that although chronologically a boomer, she identifies as a millennial. One millennial admitted to me that because of the culture in her country of origin she identifies with boomers far more than her peers.
3) Curiosity can replace negative stereotypes and judgement when there is safe place, time & guidance to converse, face to face. It is gratifying when a member of the younger generation tells me that they finally feel affirmed.
Then What Happens?
I’ll tell you next time. It takes me a minute to catch my breath after a lively community conversation. But there is lots more we can do to identify the workplace strengths of different generations and how to harness those strengths for a very productive future.
Conclusion
While I disagree that only way to deal with negative stereotypes is to dismiss generational difference, I am glad the author admonishes not to weaponize our differences. I wonder how different her take on Gen Difference would be if she heard fewer slurs and more affirmations. For instance, far from being aimless, Gen X is known for being very self-sufficient, focused, disciplined, and gets that work and life outside of work are of equal value.
· For example, what if we stopped telling Gen Xers they’re aimless, and started affirming their view of work-life balance?
· What if we stopped saying, “Okay, Boomer” and started complimenting their commitment to their work?
· What if didn’t complain about millennials’ sense of entitlement and recognized their desire to impact the world for better?
· What if affirmation went beyond the denominational differences? Maybe we wouldn’t need the labels after all.