My employer had a wonderful workshop last week on collaboration and communication, specifically in a work environment that includes all four generational groups:
- Pre-boomers: born before 1945
- Boomers 1946 – 1967
- Generation X born 1968 – 1984
- Generation Y born 1984 – 1993
The facilitator, Olivia McIvor from The Organizational Culture Group assured us that the beginning dates of each population segment vary by researcher or article. But the workshop explained so much to me. Obviously it is copyrighted and I will honor that requirement. But her comments drove me to the web to do lots of research of my own.
Making predictions about the future is more of a guessing game now than at any other time in history. Technological change is exponential rather than linear. Society can’t begin to comprehend the changes that are coming. We won’t see them until we are living in them because the rate of change is faster today than ever before.
WARNING: this video includes a soundtrack
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-9FaJPhFxQ]
I think about my Grandmother, who was born in 1898. She emigrated to Canada from the US in a wagon. At one time they drove a team of horses, then a Model T Ford. She was never convinced that the pictures of Neil Armstrong on the moon were real: she didn’t believe we could do something so outrageous and send back pictures to ‘prove’ it. On the other hand, my four year old granddaughter discovered ‘Angry Birds’ on my phone a couple of weeks ago. She played for at least thirty minutes, managing to change the settings on my phone at the same time. Then she moved to my tablet and played for a while longer. She’s four! And now her eighteen month old sister has discovered the game and loves it.
I’d like to tell you that she’s a genius but I am not sure of that, so I won’t go down that path. But I do think she’s part of the new generation for whom technology is normal. Her parents have always had computers, laptops, cell phones, tablets and notebooks around. Both of them work in the Tech business. And all of this is a normal part of her life.
While I remember not having a telephone, and then getting a party line, a corded landline and eventually a cordless phone. Finally I have a smart phone. Life is good.
I can only hope that my forays into the world of technology allow me to keep one step ahead of my grandchildren…at least for the next few years.
I’m so happy I’m not the only one obsessing over this new work environment. As a manager myself, I’m seeing a drastic difference in the professionalism and demands of my team who range from 18 to 60+. Even though I technically fall under the Y’s, I’m much more of an X based on how I was raised, so I have a really hard time working with my younger staff, even though they’re right around my age. I’ve never met such a whiney and demanding group of people! LOL. Hopefully after a few more years in the workforce, we’ll see some more improvements, and of course, I realize I’m stereotyping. Not all my young staff are so unprofessional, but it makes you wonder what the influx of technology and instant gratification/response is doing to the workplace and people who are trying to manage it. Should I brush up on my texting abilities because one day that’s how I’ll deliver their end review.
thx 4 writing this. u got a raise$$ 😛
the instructor actually had a very good explanation for why the Gen yers are how they are (and every other age group as well). my young staff aren’t unprofessional but they have assumptions about life and work that I don’t have. not wrong just different assumptions. it’s interesting, to be sure.
thanks for the raise – I need it. thx for stopping by
Karen, you are not late. Heavens, we are all busy. I’m glad you stopped by. I asked my kids for a new dvd player for Christmas, as long as it was hooked up on Christmas day…LOL no way am I going to try that on my own. not with a new flat screen HD TV that’s too big for me to move. thank God our kids know what they’re doing. Without them I’d be lost.
Louise, I apologize for being late for the party.
Are you ever dead on girl. Things are happening too fast for me these days. I can hardly keep up.
And we are on the phone with our kids all the time asking for help navigating through all the technical stuff. LOL!!!
Loved this Louise! Thanks. 🙂
All of this is so true! My mom refuses to get a computer, and still writes letters, even though long distance phone calls are now inexpensive, if not free. My daughter can’t fathom writing a letter, and heaven help her if the Internet goes down! “Mom, what did you used to do when you had to look up something for school?” “Uh… go to the library?” LOL! Or she gets mad if she can’t text one of her friends for whatever reason, and I have to remind her, “why don’t you just call her?”
I had a shock the other day – my daughter in law sent me a long private message on FB. I thought I was ‘keeping up’ by using email for messages, but she assures me she uses FB all the time. Would never have crossed my mind, which shows me where my tech savviness resides.
In contrast to a statistic in the video, I’ve been in my job 18 years. But I did meet my husband on line.
I admire your bravery – I’ve often thought of trying online dating, but I’m a chicken.
I work in health care. it’s one place where long term employment is quite common. It will be interesting to watch the Gen Yers as they come on board to see if they remain in health care or move on using their transferable skills elsewhere.
Wow, I just made the Boomer list…I feel so old now…LOL It is crazy to think about how far we’ve come. I was just talking to someone the other day about how I was a junior in high school before I even saw a computer up close. And these days kids start learning in Kindergarten! And how awesome was Atari was when it came out? I can remember us huddling around my friend’s TV because they were the first ones to have it, playing Space Invaders & Asteroids. And Pong…LOL It’s sort of bittersweet to think about, but my mom passed this year without ever having learned how to program her VCR. Hopefully, someone upstairs was able to teach her. 🙂
My condolences on your loss, Donna. I’m sure someone has taught her what she needs to know. I started working at 16, for the University of Calgary. My job was a keypunch operator – punching holes into cards so they could be input into the computer. Unbelievable how far we’ve come since 1966. Have a great day.
It’s all a bit scary if I think about it too much. My son was playing XBox Live the other day w/a headset when my mom was here and she asked, “Who’s he talking to?” I explained he was playing with a friend in town about 10 miles away and that if he wanted to play with someone from China, or Australia, he could do that, too. She shook her head in amazement and then I asked, “Remember when you got your first TV in your house and it was a big deal?” LOL Crazy how fast things change.
Isn’t it amazing? Even our friendship is beyond belief. 108 people from across America and Canada who have formed a goal and are supporting each other in unbelievable ways – like your visit here. it’s so cool. thanks for stopping by.
Stop the world, I want to get off! This constant spinning is messing with my equalibrium!
Your post is so, so, true. I don’t think I’m that old, but my history seems ancient when compared to today’s kids. Our first t.v.was black and white; our landline phone had a cord, rotary dial and party line; my brother and I were practically orgasmic when we got Pong to play on our Atari. Times they are a changin’!
Thanks for the post Louise. Sorry it took me awhile to get over to your site. I’m still trying to visit everyone in the WANA class. Hopefully I’m following now and can be a regular here!
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
Patricia, not to worry. We’re all working as hard as we can and our lives are in hyper drive. I’m looking forward to the slower pace of Christmas – which tells you about my life. be well…those of us who used corded phones need to stick together and support each other because this is unreal for us.
A very interesting video. I’m starting to have trouble keeping up with technology, which is a worry to me.
So far so good, although it all takes me a while – much longer than my kids. But i’m determined not to fall too far behind – otherwise my grandkids will be out of touch with their ‘old’ grandma. I first saw the video at a workshop on intergenerational workplace. totally blew my mind.
One of the reasons I insisted on a new cell phone was so that I didn’t fall any further behind in technology. It’s such a challenge. and I get used to things as they are and then technology leaps ahead again. It’s hard to keep abreast of it, but I have to say that this course has forced me to keep abreast of more of the changes.
Interesting post. Makes you think doesn’t it? The world are children are growing up in is nothing like the world we grew up in which was nothing like the world our parents grew up in, etc, etc. I am so amazed at what my children are able to do with today’s technology. Makes you wonder what their children’s world will look like.
We are really preparing our children and grandchildren to live in a world we can’t even imagine. This is the first time in history that we know this is true with our children. Puts incredible pressure on all of you with small ones in your lives. It’s a real challenge, I’m sure.
The internet is addictive, even more so than TV. My oldest son spends hours in his room on the internet playing games. He’s over 21, so there’s not much we can do about it – and that makes me sad. With the good of technology comes the bad. Always.
Christine, I totally agree. with the good comes the bad. my son did the same thing at that age. now he’s married with a couple of kids and his time has greatly cut down – i’m probably on the net more than him.
My teenagers can’t comprehend a world without internet. It is by far the biggest divide when the subject of my childhood (or my husband’s) comes up in conversation. We had a power outage last week and my son said I just couldn’t understand how bummed he was b/c I didn’t have internet when I was his age. I told him I had tv–which I LOVED, but apparently that didn’t count. 🙂
Coleen, my kids were flying out on vacation and wanted to check their flights. the website for the airline was down and they were stumped about what to do. I handed them a phone and suggested they call. They both looked at me and then burst out laughing – it had never occurred to them to phone. I see the differences with the young people in my office and in my life. I want to live a long time to see how it turns out.