Combine Experience with Fresh Ideas for Company Growth

Content Insider #862 – Mixed Generations

By Andy Marken – andy@markencom.com

“Here’s my theory about this. We all grew up during the “take your daughter to work day” thing.” – Jules, “The Intern,” Waverly Films, 2015

A number of years ago, our daughter wanted to take up scuba diving and she asked if we’d take the course with her.  

NBD, we’ve always been a water family – pool, sailing, you know.

As she came out of the dressing room for the first pool session, four young Navy dudes volunteered to buddy up with her.

When we got home, the first thing we asked our wife was, “What in H*** happened to our daughter.  She’s just a little girl; but all of a sudden, she’s ‘endowed’!”

Melvina Reynolds’ song, Turn Around, is true. 

People grow up right before your eyes – friends, family, co-workers – and so do you.

No Balance – In a perfect world, there would be as many entering the workforce as there are departing and there would be a balance of next-generation employees for tomorrow.  Unfortunately, in industrial countries, millennials are putting off having children longer and are having fewer children; plus, job availability isn’t equally distributed around the globe.  

One day, you’re a Gen Zer; soon you’re a millennial; next thing you know, you’re a Gen Xer. Then suddenly, a boomer. 

BAM! you’re out the door.  

The problem is that the observation above is a generality and real people don’t fit into neat little categories. 

That certainly applies to the tools you use.   

Companies and “experts” like to slice and dice the population into generational demographics – hence different. 

But we prefer Mirium’s president Mitch Joel’s, observation that today, every generation is the digital generation.  

For example, we use my smartphone for darn near everything when we’re away from my desktop or don’t have the notebook out and open.  

When we’re sitting in front of the TV, it’s the big screen, smartphone or tablet.  We might watch a couple of shows while answering emails, texting, searching the web or heck watching something we really like while the big screen is controlled by her.

Communications of Choice – While devices aren’t totally displaced as new users enter the arena, smartphones – 100X more powerful than ancient mainframe systems – are rapidly becoming the device of choice for almost every generation.  

Apps?  

Not used as heavily as the kids; but then, we just read that 30 percent of the mobile apps are used for fraud. 

All the rest are used to suck up data and learn more about you to help you.

They track what you do, where you go, who you connect with.  

When you don’t give them enough data, they’ll offer you an unending array of products, services and prices to see which one you agree with.

No, we aren’t steady users of Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, X or actually most apps because we don’t think we should make it too easy for government agencies and product/service sellers to follow me.  

Paranoid?  No, okay maybe a little.

We talk about, categorize and classify generations as boomers (1946-1964), Gen X (1965-1980), millennials (1980-2000), Gen Z (2001-2010) and mobile gen (2010 – ). 

The last two generations are the first to simply have technology there; and yes, there will be stuff introduced that they don’t really “learn”, they just sorta grow up with it.

The previous generations are the ones that helped develop the stuff and had to adopt/embrace the technology.  

Devices – Today, mobile devices of all sizes are constantly on and constantly available to people to stay in touch with each other and the world around them.  

One didn’t replace the other; but the newer solutions became more natural, more accepted … quickly.  

The same is true of today’s workforce where individuals are collaborating, focusing, using their insights and expertise in unique ways to produce results for organizations.  

Unfortunately, we tend to assume that creativity wanes with age and individuals become rigid in their thinking and their approaches to challenges/issues.

Back in 2007, at Stanford, Zuck said, “Young people are smarter,” implying that middle-aged people were bogged down with stale ideas and older folks couldn’t make the imagination leaps required or even get out of their own way.” 

Of course, when Zuck heard that Dr. John Goodenough, of the University of Texas at Austin, received a co-patent for a new type of battery at 94, he probably thought he might have been “a little over complimentary” regarding youth.

Older isn’t Slower – Patent offices around the globe are quick to note that most patents are issued to people who are 50 years of age and beyond.  It takes time to garner all that expertise.  

It turns out, most inventors peak in their late 40s and are most productive in the last half of their careers.

In the U.S., the highest value patents tend to come from folks over the age of 55.

As Dr. Goodenough said, “I’m old enough to know you can’t close your mind to new ideas. You have to draw on a fair amount of experience in order to be able to put ideas together.”

But as companies and investors hunt for new ideas, new opportunities, new growth and new employees, they often rely on Zuck’s youth myths. 

Maybe if some of the deceased start-ups in CB Insights venture capital funding tracking reports had hired senior people with more street smarts and experience, they might not have encountered so many bumps on their road to riches and fame.

Economists note that unlike earlier generations, there is a growing shortage of people entering the workforce. 

And, as people leave the active workforce, they take with them significant business and industry knowledge that can’t be replaced.  

Pew Research reported that baby boomers reached nearly 21 percent of the US population while younger generations haven’t kept pace.

Unequal Distribution – Companies everywhere report that finding people for positions isn’t all that difficult, but it is increasingly tough to find people with the expertise and experience to do the work well.  

In addition, more than 10,000 people across the US will reach the age of 65 every single day, despite the fact that Boomers don’t believe old age begins until 72.  

This trend is even worse in Japan, China, Europe and almost everywhere but Africa where young people are increasing.

At the same time, Pew researchers found that the average Boomer felt nine years younger than her/his chronological age.  

Researchers at Harvard also noted that retirements deprive companies of critical experience and knowledge which impacts productivity across the board.  

They note that with a wider breadth of talent in the workforce, firms have access to a broader array of skills, knowledge and experience with each enriching collaboration, focus, added insights and expertise.

Commenting on the importance of having a strong, mixed-generation workforce, analysts at Catalyst noted that:

• Millennials are the European Union’s minority population, and the working-age population is expected to continue to decline until 2050, meaning boomers will be vital to the area’s economic growth.
• More than 26 percent of Japan’s population is 65 or older. By 2060, nearly 40 percent of Japan’s population is projected to be 65 or older, 
• In Canada, 18.7 percent of those employed are 55 or older. Canada has an aging population due to increased life span and decreased birth rates.
• In 2020, India didn’t face a labor shortage when the Baby Boomers retired, but it did face a talent shortage.
• Last year millennials comprised about half of the global workforce, but 90 percent of people ages 15 to 24 live in developing regions where there is a scarcity of good, stable jobs.

The Harvard report pointed out that older workers, sharing their experience, increases not only their own productivity but also the productivity of those who work with them.

For example:

• Our wife’s nephew was in home remodeling/construction for more than 20 years.  He was faster than his apprentices and was constantly helping them do the job better and faster.
• Our over-the-hill physician in our opinion is a better diagnostician (and listener) than the new practitioner, who will probably be his replacement. 
• Rick and Doug are two seasoned sales managers we know in separate companies who spend a lot of time with team members, making certain they thoroughly understand their markets, their key contacts and how to build/maintain strong customer relationships.

The Harvard study found that productivity peaks at 50 and is 60 percent higher than the average 20-year-old.

Imbalance – While firms everywhere are automating as quickly as possible, productivity hasn’t increased as rapidly as needed and the available workforce has increased only slightly.  

That partially explains why, in the past five years, the labor force grew just 0.6 percent per year (half that of a decade earlier), while productivity grew just 0.5 percent per year.

Managers often say they aren’t short of skills because that’s increasingly easy to attain with a few years of added education.  

Instead, they note they are short on experience.  

We found it interesting a few weeks ago when a TV news interviewee said, “Millennials, or ‘echo boomers,’ have the world in their hands.  

Maybe, it’s time to focus on leveraging more of our millennial team members instead of viewing them as a totally different breed from a far-away planet.

Duuhh!   

They’re children of baby boomers.  

They grew up with doting parents who praised them and said they could accomplish everything they put their minds to (just like you).

Their experiences and opportunities were probably broader than yours because they had the Internet and smartphones. 

Your experiences/activities were just…different.

Your folks said you were comfortable with who you were; others labeled you as cocky.  

You liked to break/work around rules; others said you had no respect.  

Now the lines between your personal and professional life have blurred … dramatically.

Jeezz, you’re a millennial!

Well, not quite, because you didn’t graduate with a mountain of debt and your life doesn’t totally revolve around your social media and selfies.  

But every generation that enters the workforce feels they’re unique and the generation or two before them looks at them and says, “Weird kids we’ve got to choose from in this batch.  They think they’re entitled and they’ll never fit in.”  

It’s a never-ending cycle. 

You just forgot.  

Too Healthy – Scientists have made excellent strides in extending the lives of people living in almost every corner of the globe, which is one of the reasons the global population has grown to more than 7B.  The age group that will have to carry the burden in 20 years though will experience added stress in being as productive as is required.  

People who have been in the workplace for a long time, and those just entering, want the same thing – to be treated with respect, do stuff that is meaningful, have an impact/make a difference.  

They want to be given the room to succeed or fail without being stepped on and they want to be able to ask for assistance/advice without being put down.  

They may be socially, religiously, ethnically and/or politically different; but that may not be all that bad.

The tricky part is being able to manage the cross-generational team, so they work to the competitive advantage of the company.

That’s the most difficult job in the organization.  

But you can succeed, even though you may have to remind yourself at times what Jules said; “So we were always told we could be anything, do anything. And I think guys got, maybe not left behind, but not quite as nurtured.”

Andy Marken – andy@markencom.com – is an author of more than 800 articles on management, marketing, communications, industry trends in media & entertainment, consumer electronics, software, and applications. An internationally recognized marketing/communications consultant with a broad range of technical and industry expertise especially in storage, storage management and film/video production fields; he has an extended range of relationships with business, industry trade press, online media, and industry analysts/consultants.