Gen X Redux?

Good Morning Joe,

Lately, I've been wondering how the current times are going to shape the generation of children growing up today. According to the Tammy Erickson's model of the generations, it is the events that occur during you formative teen years that shape the lasting values and perceptions of a generation. So, that makes me curious as to how this current generation of kids are making sense of what's happening around them and how that might shape their world view.

Generation Y has been thought of as the confident, gregarious generation which stems from the fact that this generation grew up in mostly unprecendented positive times. Gen X on the other hand is know to be skeptical and even cynical, based on the fact that the world was seemingly coming unraveled as they grew up (government scandal, corporate downsizings, soaring divorce rates, etc.). So, what about this next group?

What I have been wondering lately is if we aren't creating a second wave of kids who may share some Gen X characteristics. I present to you this evidence:

• Our current economic recession and hardships are directly related to the greed and arrogance of corporate giants.
• After a number of years of a job market where there were good jobs if you wanted one, things have turned. We've been reminded of what layoffs and downsizings feel like. Everyone knows someone who has been impacted.
• We see reports each day soldiers coming home dead from Iraq from a war that was started based on inaccurate intelligence and a President who lied to the American people about it in order to justify going to war in teh first place.

These data points among others lead to an environment that sounds and feels much like the world that our Gen X brothers and sisters grew up in. Could it be that another "trust no one" generation is in the making?

Jason

The Whole "Generational" Thing - Response

Joe,

Thanks for braining up this list that Jamie Notter presented from the book Generations at Work. I think it's dangerous to start listing liabilities and assets of the generational groups. When you make the jump from describing characteristics of a generation to describing assets and liabilities, you've inserted judgments. These judgments about generations are generally colored by our own biases or even our own generation.

For example, as a Gen X'er, I have often criticized Generation Y for the fact they have grown up in a world where they aren't told they do anything wrong. They have been coddled and supported more than any generation in history. We commonly talk about the fact that they are the generation that has grown up with no winning and losing in PE class and instead, everyone is a winner because everyone all participated. This goes against my nature as someone who believes that healthy competition can bring out the best in people. So, I have been one to say that Gen Y isn't equipped for the workforce because they don't know how to take and use negative feedback.

On the flip side of this argument would be that Gen Y is equipped to succeed in a very different way than the generations before them because of their confidence. Since they have grown up with parents and schools that didn't punish them for losing or failing, they don't see failing as fatal. This means that they are more fearless with new things. They are more willing to experiment and test out new approaches because they aren't as concerned about having to get things right every time. In many ways, they are far better equipped for our new rapidly changing world of technology and multimedia.

In my opinion, judgment is dangerous and borders on irresponsible, particularly when talking about generational stereotypes. But, I guess they need to sell books and give people like us something to debate about.

And to your comments about the Manifesto, I do think that it is definitely colored with our Gen X perspective. I think that the message underlying the manifesto definitely comes from the cynicism and skepticism we have developed as a result of our experiences growing up. The Manifesto is a handbook for organizations who want to evolve their workplaces to attract and retain not only Gen X but also the generations of the future. I'm not sure that the actual changes we call for in the Manifesto are specific to only Gen X, but our tone surely is.

What do you think?

Jason