Okay, so there are a lot of articles out there about Gen Y and even about their Boomer parents. The thing is, being a Gen Xer, I can't help but feel like a middle child left out of the discussion...
So here I am a thirtysomething in the workforce. I'm not entirely a digital native. (Ready for my secret confession: I don't text.) Still I get somewhat irked by unitask activities and processes that could be rethought and replaced with newer more efficient means of getting things done.
Some want change to happen fast and don't stop to ask the important questions like: Why change? How will this be useful? How to we get people to embrace change? What will we be losing by adopting this change? Others dig in their heels and refuse to take any risk, forgetting that stagnation in a changing world can in itself be a risk.
I'm dying to see us use proven collaborative tools do what they do best, but we have a tough struggle ahead of us. I'm okay with that. What bothers me is when those resistant to change make it personal with the seven words I detest: When-you-get-to-be-my-age.
Are they implying that our desire to improve the organization is reckless and immature? Does a desire to make my organization efficient make me naive or childish?
I am saddened when my colleagues resort to personal attacks on my
generation or my younger Gen Y peers because they are uncomfortable in
the changing world. I'm reminded of a quote from fellow GenXer Ani DiFranco:
If you're not trying to make something better
as far as I can tell
you're just in the way. -from "What If No One's Watching"
For me, personally, my drive toward efficiency came from my grandfather (so-called Greatest Generation). His interest in the field industrial engineering drives what he does even in retirement. He would show me how he organized his collections of books, movies and music (not alphabetically), but in some other manner that would make maximum use of space. He was also the one who first introduced me to computers and spreadsheets.
My husband and I have been blessed with several grandparents from
this generation who taught us to be lifelong learners, to question the
status quo, and to embrace change.
If we are supposed to resist change, become complacent, fear technology, and decide we are done learning as we "mature", why has this "Greatest Generation" taught us otherwise? Why does my husband's grandmother use the Internet and check her email daily? Why does my grandfather continue to perfect what he does at home in retirement?
“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly."--Henri Bergson
Looking back on my post here, I realize that it not only explains my generations views in the workplace, but for political views in the upcoming primary if you look at some of the demographics.
Are my politics that apparent? Hmmm...