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Generations: When We “Bloom Where We’re Planted,” Who Is In the Garden with Us?

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.

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Generations: When We “Bloom Where We’re Planted,” Who Is In the Garden with Us?

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  1. Generations:When We “Bloom Where We’re Planted,” Who Is In the Garden with Us? MEMO 2008 Summer Leadership Conference July 20 - 22, 2008

  2. 4 Current Generations • Veterans • Boomers • Gen Xers • Millennials (Howe & Strauss, 2007; Zemke, Raines, Filipczak, 2000)

  3. Veterans • Birth Years: 1925 - 1942 • 66 – 83 years old • Traditionalists • GIs Mature • WWII Generation • The Silent Generation • Seniors

  4. Boomers • Birth Years: 1943 – 1960 • 48 – 65 years old • Baby Boomers

  5. Gen Xers • Birth Years: 1961 – 1981 • 27 – 47 years old • Baby Busters • Post Boomers • Generation X

  6. Millennials • Birth Years: 1982 – 2005 • 3 – 26 years old • Generation Y • Nintendo Generation • Generation Net • Internet Generation • Nexters • Millens

  7. 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)

  8. 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)

  9. 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)

  10. 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)

  11. Heroes [Millennial] • Born after the spiritual awakening • Time of individualism, pragmatism, self-reliance • Increasingly protected children, come of age as valiant young workers of crisis • Endowments: community, affluence, and technology (Howe & Strauss, 2007)

  12. 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)

  13. 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

  14. 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

  15. 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

  16. Defining Events / Trends: Millennials • Computers • School violence (esp. Columbine) • Oklahoma City • Multiculturalism • Girls' movement • 9/11 • Stress • Harry Potter (1997)

  17. 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)

  18. Attributes: Veterans (cont’d) • Value the past & history • Law & order • Conservative spending • Stable • Detailed • Thorough (Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000)

  19. Attributes: Veterans (cont’d) • Loyal • Hard working • Respect • Clear authority (Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000) • Reward of retirement • Top-down management (Leunberger & Kluver, 2005/2006)

  20. Veterans at Work • Assets: • Stable • Detail oriented • Thorough • Loyal • Hard working (Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000, p. 46)

  21. 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)

  22. 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)

  23. 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)

  24. Attributes: Boomers (cont’d) • Economically optimistic • Driven by competition & material rewards • Hardworking • Focused on big picture (Leunberger & Kluver, 2005/2006)

  25. 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)

  26. 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)

  27. 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)

  28. 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)

  29. 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)

  30. Gen Xers at Work • Assets: • Adaptable • Technoliterate • Independent • Unintimidated by authority • Creative (Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000, p. 110)

  31. Gen Xers at Work (cont’d) • Liabilities: • Impatient • Poor people skills • Inexperienced • Cynical (Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000, p. 110)

  32. Attributes: Millennials • Smartest • Cleverest • Much wanted • Overprogrammed • Barriers of time & space dissolve • Willing to work and learn (Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000)

  33. 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)

  34. 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)

  35. Millennials at Work (cont’d) • Assets: • Collective action • Optimism • Tenacity • Heroic spirit • Multitasking • Techno savvy (Zemke, Raines, & Filipczak, 2000, p. 144)

  36. 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)

  37. 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

  38. 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&Fmt=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.

  39. 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.

  40. 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: rinkoff@csp.edu 651-603-6317

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