Back from TCG and still trying to get caught up, but I did want to post about a divisive keynote speech from the conference given by 20-something wunderkind journalist Nadira Hira on generational differences both within the workplace and in audiences. If any of you saw Lynne Lancaster at last year's TBA conference, you know most of the information Nadira was talking about -- boomers and Y's (aka, sort of, Millennials -- apparently it's all very amorphous) get along with each other because they share world views, X's are sort of out in the cold (and are apparently generally bitter and introverted - this, of course, riled up the X's in the audience. In my experience, bitterness has more to do with life experience than the year you were born, but...).
What I found fascinating about Nadira's speech was the fact that she was a Gen Y talking about Gen Y's -- she didn't really try to do more than that, and spent most of her time looking at the specific characteristics of us Y's (to give you the timeline -- Boomers are late 1940's to early 1960's, X'ers are late 1960's to late 1970's, Y's are 1980's to 1995, Millennials are 1996 onward). We're driven by mission over money (to a point), are outspoken and entitled, work harder and more quickly than our older bro's and so's, and share an optimistic and driven vision of the world with our Boomer parents and our Greatest Generation grandparents. We come off as demanding and pugnacious, but get work done on time and well.
One of her main points was how to deal with an inter-generational workplace -- especially now that the Y'ers are starting to end up in management positions, sometimes over X's and Boomers, and sometimes after having been in the organization (or workforce) for fewer years than their older compatriots. No matter what generational dynamic exists in the workplace, her discussion centered around looking at the fact that Boomers are essentially the parents of Y'ers -- which means that Boomers (in a grand sense) "raised us this way." AKA, if we're too outspoken and blunt and transparent in our personal lives for your taste, look back on how you raised your kids. And then think about how you deal with them. Or conversely, if you're the Y'er managing people, think about how you deal with you parents (and older brothers and sisters) -- reframe your work relations in terms of family dynamics.
I'm not sure how far this takes you, but I do know that I get along well with Boomers (in a lot of ways, better than I get along with X'ers, although not universally). I like to think I'm not totally self-absorbed, but I do have healthy ego that has gotten me in trouble before. I don't have nearly the same issues with separating my personal and professional life as my older compatriots (I have one Facebook profile for everyone, and I figure they'll learn whatever they learn about me -- and interestingly, this has really helped in connecting with some of my colleagues around the country, as they may know me only slightly, but they do know about some of my personal journey, be it my husband's latest acquisition of two chickens or my angst at the passage of Prop 8). When I brought this up with Kerry Adams-Hapner, the head of the San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs, she was horrified at the idea of dropping those walls. "It must be a generational thing," she said. I agree.
My prediction is that another 5 years in the workforce is going to blunt some of the outspoken obstreperousness of my generation, but hopefully will allow the optimism, mission and drive to remain. I think we'll continue to be transparent in our lives, and will continue to think that people
really want to hear our 140-character tweets (or whatever's the next best thing by then). Oh, and I think we'll rule the world, of course. And when we take over, you'll find out first - on Facebook.
Labels: generations, marketing, TCG
