I was at a business dinner the other day, and the conversation turned toward the different generations in the workplace. One of the attendees spoke about how the baby boomers have a work ethic that keeps them driving toward a goal, at the cost of their health, and basically their personal life. It's that drive that got them into the positions that they want ( or thought they wanted), and the "living life" part is something that you do when you retire. I know we all look forward to wind surfing and cliff diving at 65.
The boomers also showed a lack of fondness for their new overlord, technology. Its not something they were born into, but it arrived a bit too late to have that emotional attachment ingrained into their being.
The opposite end of the spectrum are the Millennials. A cell phone and a computer are seriously an extension of their social being. Things can be conveyed faster, to more people, and they can all still be sitting in the same room while this happens. To an outsider, it looks like they're not interacting. but in reality, they are reaching out to dozens of people at once.
Their work ethic seems to have a different end game also. Salary doesn't seem to be as important as the experience. Sure, there are exceptions to every generation, but the differences are clear. The latest generation cares, just not about the same things that the boomers do.
Generation X strides both of these worlds with relative easy. The rise of PC's and cell phones trained us not to fear technology. Being a teen when the first cell phones arrived was an easy shift for us, not the ending of humanity as we know it. We understand the work ethic of the former generation, and still appreciate the newest one. We can still work hard all day, and unwind with a few games on the XBOX. It's not wasting time, it's our recharge.
Generation Y is a great example of the transition. They are a lot of times seen as an extension of both Millennials and Generation X. They carry our values, and easily understand what makes the Millennials tick. It isn't judgement, it seems that they get the bigger future picture.
The values of the boomers who were our parents still stay with us, it's just we understand that there is an end game that hopefully doesn't start at retirement. Millennials already figured this out. You just have to look at their Instagram to find it out.
