Transcript Document 7352162

Generations:
When We
“Bloom Where We’re Planted,”
Who Is In the Garden with Us?
MEMO
2008 Summer Leadership Conference
July 20 - 22, 2008
4 Current Generations
•
Veterans
•
Boomers
•
Gen Xers
•
Millennials
(Howe & Strauss, 2007; Zemke, Raines, Filipczak, 2000)
Veterans







Birth Years: 1925 - 1942
66 – 83 years old
Traditionalists
GIs Mature
WWII Generation
The Silent Generation
Seniors
Boomers



Birth Years: 1943 – 1960
48 – 65 years old
Baby Boomers
Gen Xers





Birth Years: 1961 – 1981
27 – 47 years old
Baby Busters
Post Boomers
Generation X
Millennials








Birth Years: 1982 – 2005
3 – 26 years old
Generation Y
Nintendo Generation
Generation Net
Internet Generation
Nexters
Millens
Generational Theory


Tracked back from Puritan America
Each generation marked by its own
"biography" (p. 41)
• series of events and/or trends
• around which they develop common beliefs
and behaviors


Replaces the generation departing
(Moore, 2007)
Generations follow observable patterns,
are easier to see in 20/20 hindsight
(Howe & Strauss, 2007)
Artists




[Veteran]
Born during great war or crisis
A time when worldly perils boil off the
complexity of life, important
Public consensus, aggressive institutions,
personal sacrifice
Endowments: pluralism, expertise, due
process
(Howe & Strauss, 2007)
Prophets





[Boomer]
Born after great war or crisis
During a time of rejuvenated family life
Consensus around societal order
“Young crusaders of a spiritual awakening"
(p.45)
Endowments: vision, values, and religion
(Howe & Strauss, 2007)
Nomads





[Gen X]
Born during cultural renewal
Time of social ideals and spiritual agendas
Youth-fired attacks on establishment
Grow up as underprotected, alienated
young adults
Endowments: liberty, survival, and honor
(Howe & Strauss, 2007)
Heroes




[Millennial]
Born after the spiritual awakening
Time of individualism, pragmatism, selfreliance
Increasingly protected children, come of
age as valiant young workers of crisis
Endowments: community, affluence, and
technology
(Howe & Strauss, 2007)
Generational Trends





Number of creative individuals rises
prior to periods of social, economic,
and political change & innovation
Veterans 13.9% (1930)
Boomers 16.6% (1950)
Gen X 18.7% (1980)
Millennials 30.1% (1999)
(Leunberger & Kluver, 2005/2006)
Defining Events / Trends:
Veterans











Patriotism
Families
Great Depression
Social Security System established
Pearl Harbor
WWII
New Deal
Koren War
Golden Age of Radio
Silver screen
Rise of labor unions
Defining Events / Trends:
Boomers












Prosperity
Children in spotlight
Television
Suburbia
Assassinations
Nuclear power plants
Vietnam
Civil Rights movement
Cold War
Women's lib
Space race
Kent State
Defining Events / Trends:
Gen Xers










Watergate
Nixon resignation
Latchkey kids
Single parent home
MTV
AIDS
Computers
Challenger disaster
Fall of Berlin Wall
Persian Gulf War
Defining Events / Trends:
Millennials








Computers
School violence (esp. Columbine)
Oklahoma City
Multiculturalism
Girls' movement
9/11
Stress
Harry Potter (1997)
Attributes: Veterans





Consistency & uniformity
Bigger & better (“Gone with the
Wind”, inventions, service stations)
Conformists
Believe in “logic not magic” (p. 39)
Disciplined
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000)
Attributes: Veterans (cont’d)






Value the past & history
Law & order
Conservative spending
Stable
Detailed
Thorough
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000)
Attributes: Veterans (cont’d)




Loyal
Hard working
Respect
Clear authority
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000)


Reward of retirement
Top-down management
(Leunberger & Kluver, 2005/2006)
Veterans at Work

Assets:
• Stable
• Detail oriented
• Thorough
• Loyal
• Hard working
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000, p. 46)
Veterans at Work (cont’d)

Liabilities:
• Inept with ambiguity and change
• Reluctant to buck the system
• Uncomfortable with conflict
• Reticent when they disagree
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000, p. 46)
Attributes: Boomers





Pre-us, us, post-us
Passionate about causes
Believe in growth & expansion
Think of ourselves as stars of the
show
Optimistic
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000)
Attributes: Boomers (cont’d)





Teamwork
Personal gratification – often at a
high prices to selves & others
(marriage, jobs)
Personal growth – soul searching spiritualism
Young & cool
Like respect, but not with sir or
ma’am
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000)
Attributes: Boomers (cont’d)




Economically optimistic
Driven by competition & material
rewards
Hardworking
Focused on big picture
(Leunberger & Kluver, 2005/2006)
Boomers at Work

Assets:
• Service oriented
• Driven
• Willing to go extra mile
• Good at relationships
• Want to please
• Team players
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000, p. 76)
Boomers at Work (cont’d)

Liabilities:
• Not budget minded
• Uncomfortable with personal conflict
• Process ahead of result
• Overly sensitive to feedback
• Self-centered
• Judgmental of those who see things
differently
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000, p. 76)
Attributes: Gen Xers






Self-reliant (look out for themselves)
With absent parents, seek to create family
bond with friends
Work/life balance
Non-traditional sense of time & space
(when & where they work)
Informality
Especially casual with regard to authority
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000)
Attributes: Gen Xers (cont’d)






Skeptical (careful & guarded)
“Attracted to the edge” (p. 102) extreme sports
Techno savvy
Great at multitasking
Encouraged as children to challenge
others’ thinking
Willing to work hard, but don’t take
advantage of them
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000)
Attributes: Gen Xers (cont’d)




Date cautiously & marry late
Want to be their own boss – greatest
entrepreneurial generation in US
history
Helping people one-on-one or
volunteering more effective than
civic interaction
Tough and practical
(Howe & Strauss, 2007)
Gen Xers at Work

Assets:
• Adaptable
• Technoliterate
• Independent
• Unintimidated by authority
• Creative
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000, p. 110)
Gen Xers at Work (cont’d)

Liabilities:
• Impatient
• Poor people skills
• Inexperienced
• Cynical
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000, p. 110)
Attributes: Millennials






Smartest
Cleverest
Much wanted
Overprogrammed
Barriers of time & space dissolve
Willing to work and learn
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000)
Attributes: Millennials (cont’d)









Optimism
Civic duty (vote in schools)
Confidence
Achievement
Sociability
Morality
Street smarts
Diversity
Challenges: haves & have nots
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000)
Attributes: Millennials (cont’d)







Want to correct for the impracticality of Boomers
& undiscipline of Xers
Virtue less defined by self – more defined by
ideal of common man
Develop community based on norms, standards,
rules, responsibility to others,
Empower groups not individuals
High School Musical
Expect nonstop interaction with their peers
More interdependence (personal, social, and
economic) with their parents
(Howe & Strauss 2007)
Millennials at Work (cont’d)

Assets:
• Collective action
• Optimism
• Tenacity
• Heroic spirit
• Multitasking
• Techno savvy
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000, p. 144)
Millens at Work (cont’d)

Liabilities:
• Need for supervision & structure
• Inexperience, particularly with difficult
people
• Likely to be a demanding workforce


Clear picture of how it should be
Used to getting what they want
(Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000, p. 144)
Strategies for Service





Always remember that communication is often
initiated and received through generational
“filters”
Keep in mind preferred communication styles
(individual and generational)
If possible and appropriate, combine generations
based on type of project and generational
disposition; be flexible
Recognize that frustration may be caused by
communication differences in addition to the
event itself
Enjoy the variety presented to you as a service
provider
Bibliography




Clifton, M. (2007, December 10). Tip sheet: Generation clash in
the workplace? What we can learn from the young. Part I. PR
News, 63(47). Retrieved 1/1/08 from
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1396022771&sid=1&Fmt=
3&clientld=8905&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
Hazard, C. (2007, September 8). 2 generations, 1 perfect
match:Young Millenials find waiting mentors in baby boomers.
Knight Rider Business News. Retrieved 1/1/08
fromhttp://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1332481991&sid=2&F
mt=3&clientld=8905&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
Howe, N. & Strauss, W. (2000). Millennials rising: The next great
generation. New York: Vintage Books.
Howe, N. & Strauss, W. (2007).The next 20 years: How consumer
and workforce attitudes will evolve [Electronic version]. Harvard
Business Review, 85(7/8), 41-52.
References (cont’d)

Leuenberger, D. & Kluver, J. (2005/2006). Changing culture:
Generational collision and creativity [Electronic version]. Public
Manager, 34(4), 16-21.

Moore, A. (2007). They've never taken a swim and thought about
Jaws [Electronic version]. College and University, 82(4), 41 – 48.

Steiner, J. (2007). Six steps for guaranteeing generation y
productivity [Electronic version]. SuperVision, 68(7), 6-7.

Ware, J., Craft, R., & Kerschenbaum, S. (2007). Training
tomorrow's workforce [Electronic version]. T + D, 61(4), 58-60.

Zemke, R., Raines, C. & Filipczal, B. (2000). Generations at work:
Managing the clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in
your workplace. Chicago: Amacom.
Your Presenter


Carol Rinkoff, Ph.D. is the chair of the MBA
program at Concordia University in St. Paul. Her
current students are working adults, ranging
from Millennials to Boomers. Carol’s professional
interests include systems thinking, group
dynamics, organizational culture, learning styles,
generational diversity, educational technology,
and research.
Contact info:
[email protected]
651-603-6317