Cheezhead

I am preparing to appear on a panel in a month on the different generations in the workforce. How they work, what they want, who they are, how they will or won’t work with each other, etc? I don’t want to give away my age as I consider myself young at heart and understanding of the people I work with everyday. They represent all ages. It just works out all the ages are younger than me. So I have an interesting perspective, maybe clouded by my life of perception and experiences to date but interesting nevertheless.

I have sat through a number of presentations on Gen X, Y, Z, Pod, boomers…the demographics changed by numbers, technology and experiences. I am told and see that the way we work will change. My 14 year old daughter uses text freely and all the time. I asked her a question about a friend when driving her to some event last week and 30 seconds later she gave me his answer. I know this is everyday stuff to most of you but kinda blew Dad away.

So information is readily available - pretty much anytime anyplace. This understading and acceptance of access changes by generation. No matter, the way we access information scales productivity and changes the way we work either on our own or in groups. To me the generational obstacles require that some of us ‘get over it’ easier and faster than others. I for one am embracing information access and am incorporating it into the way I live and work. In the end we all will.

But sometimes throughout this discussion topic, the need for structure is missed. We’re told people will work how and when they want, motivated by time, money. location, experience or all the above. We should remember that in these situations goals and missions are inviting, compelling, soothing and necessary. There is value in knowing where we are going, what we intend to accomlish, why and the payoff at the end of the day.

When I hear many speak of the different generations, they speak of personal interests and that organizations / companies must learn how to align with the individual…let go as it were. OK, maybe…if the work needed to get done gets done. And that is my simple thought - companies need to state clearly what is expected, inspect progress and be willing to let go. My hope is we all continue to get better at work and living.

The generations are different - in many ways. We will work and live together successfully if we help each other…
There’s a verse in the bible in Hebrews that says something like:
“let us consider what we can do to spur each other on to love and good deeds…”