Responding to Hate with Knowledge
As many of you know, I am a management consultant who specializes in analyzing and explaining generational differences. After The Washington Post published a profile about me on July 9, my work was belittled in various blogs. The Hater claimed I am “spewing a bunch of random, completely useless generalizations.” Gawker declared that I hold “America’s fakest job.” All because I suggested that businesspeople start thinking about their younger colleagues as members of a group that is different than their own, and to respect and celebrate those differences – a crucial first step to bridging generational gaps in the workplace.
These criticisms have redoubled my commitment to helping business leaders leverage diversity, instead of allowing it to become a weapon of intolerance and hate. I have seen hate first-hand, and it’s not pretty. As an American working in Kenya, I saw how tribal differences led to ethnic clashes, violence, and displacement. I also saw the opposite, when a multinational, multigenerational group of Muslim and Christian co-workers forged themselves into a powerful community. Their success grew from understanding their differences. This experience formed the basis of my intergenerational work. It taught me that if you don’t know how to speak each generation’s language, you run the risk of misunderstanding others and being misunderstood.
How does that happen? A growing body of research has shown that members of the Boomer, Gen X and Gen Y generations have different priorities, personalities, language preferences, and even values-shaped by the political, social and technological events that occurred during each group’s formative years.
Imagine that 46-year-old Tom (a Boomer) is supervised by 35-year-old Mary (she’s a Gen X). Mary asks everyone to individually work hard and play hard to get a project done, so that it can be the finest caliber in the field. This language does not motivate Tom, and he begins to disengage. Yet if Mary
made the same request by appealing to his Boomer sensibilities-“Let’s work together as a team for the greater cause of the community”-Tom might be more inclined to collaborate. The request is the same; the language and style of delivery makes the difference in Tom’s commitment to his work.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that every member of a generation is the same and should be pigeon holed into a stereotype. It does mean, however, that patterns and traits exist that can be identified and leveraged as strengths within an organization. For example, instead of bemoaning the fact that Gen
Y employees spend their work days wired, managers could ask their Gen Y colleagues to mentor older colleagues on the benefits of emerging technology.
In business, there is a direct relationship between intergenerational collaboration and the bottom line. According to a Gallup poll of 1 million employed US workers, the number one reason employees cite when quitting is a difficult relationship with their supervisor-often someone of a different generation and, increasingly, someone younger than they. (Google’s Gen X chiefs Sergey Brin and Larry Page and Facebook’s Gen Y CEO, Mark Zuckerberg are examples of younger generations leading a multi-generational company.) A study by the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment found that
replacing that disgruntled employee costs the organization 1.5 times his salary. I don’t know many organizations that can afford this. Do you?
It’s tempting to trivialize these findings or demonize attempts to apply them in the workplace. That’s a shame, because the issues facing all generations can only be solved if we work together. Our broken economy, our ailing environment, the political challenges we face aren’t helped when we pretend that differences don’t exist. Growth occurs when we understand these differences, not when we ignore them.
Diverse perspectives give us a fuller picture of the issue at hand-whether that issue is turning out a timely report or creating new industrial policy-but only when we’re willing to see, hear and learn. Leaders aimed for success must leverage diversity in all its forms. That’s why it’s time for all of us to span the generational gaps; to move from fear to knowledge and from ignorance to respect.
The next generation will be glad we did.
