Separation Of Powers: Why Drawing Lines Between Generations Needs To Stop

Adrian Dayton recently wrote a great post about Gen Y in the workplace that got me thinking. And not just thinking a little bit, but thinking so much that I almost started an out-loud conversation with myself just to flesh out all the thoughts flying through my head.

He wrote his post after listening in on a panel at InsideCounsel’s SuperConference—a conference held in Chicago last week for legal professionals—in which the panelists addressed dealing with Generation Y in the workplace. The panel was made up of some of the nation’s top attorneys, many of whom believe that Gen Y is a lazy, selfish generation whose sense of entitlement is unfounded and unrealistic. In light of these attributes, some of the panelists seem to feel that maybe Gen Y’ers aren’t cut out to be attorneys—who regularly work 70-80 hours a week and often compromise their personal lives for their careers—and that finding a work-life balance is the responsibility of each individual, not the company he or she works for.

After my initial angry reaction to the various scathing comments some of the panelists made I started to think a little more rationally about the implications of these types of age-related conversations.

Here’s my problem with this whole “Gen Y sucks” issue that seems to be trending right now: The separation and subsequent generational categorization of the workforce (and the “lifeforce” as a whole) is only creating conflict and widening the communication gaps between generations. Not only are we dealing with the very real challenge of an economy—and thus, lifestyle—in transition, but, to add to the challenge, now we’re all pointing fingers at the generations that aren’t ours, blaming them for our problems in the workplace and in the overarching economic slowdown.

I’m not going to lie here; I’ve done this before. I’ve openly blamed the Baby Boomer generation for our economic downfall, saying that their greed and myopia have brought the business world crashing down around us. Yes, that’s harsh. And admittedly, what has happened is the result of an amalgamation of countless factors, not just the activities of a single generation. I still greatly respect my parents, their peers, and the work their generation has done over the years, but I did make that judgment. On the other hand, I’ve also had discussions with my friends about the unreasonable attitudes of some of the newly graduated kids we’ve all worked with. Again, I respect the work they’ve done up to this point, but I made that judgment.

Upon further thought I guess what I want to know now is, what does this type of judgment bring to the table? A hardworking, 40-something VP of marketing/criminal attorney/CIO can comment on the unfortunate work ethic of Generation Y and make a point to avoid hiring us because of these blanket assumptions, but here’s the reality: We’re unavoidable. That’s the thing about life. People get older, they retire, they focus their energy and work ethic on something else, something that doesn’t pertain to you or your organization. Eventually you have to turn to younger, more-able-bodied (relatively speaking, of course) people to do your work, and to innovate for you, too. Without diversity–in age, race, and gender–where does growth come from?

This isn’t just a concern for Baby Boomers, or even Gen X’ers. My generation will have to face this hard fact as time goes on, too. We’ll have to find that balance between gracefully accepting the growing efficiency and effectiveness of our future generations’ innovations and behaviors, and proudly standing by what we, as Gen Y, have accomplished and continue to accomplish despite growing feelings of obsolescence.

My point is you can’t circumvent the issue by staying away from the “problem.” You have to confront it and discover ways to deal with it. To bridge these growing gaps, Gen Y, Gen X, and the Baby Boomers need to learn how to work together. Instead of pointing fingers, let’s start drawing connections. Perhaps our focus on the differences has made it impossible to see the commonalities, but they’re there, the most basic yet most important one being, we’re all human. We are all human, we’re all trying to make ends meet, and we’re all trying to do things we love that keep us happy and healthy. Isn’t the human condition enough to pull us past our differences?

I know there will always be a level of misunderstanding between generations, and some will blatantly choose to NOT understand—this is unavoidable, and, really, it’s healthy and it’s okay. We can’t all love each other. But we can strive to recognize the outstanding achievementsof our parents’, grandparents’, younger siblings’, and children’s generations. We can respect our differences as much as our similarities. Instead of whining we can use our minds and creativity to come up with more than insults to throw at each other; we can use that creativity to build bridges between our age gaps and find ways to understand our older and younger counterparts better.

This might all sound fluffy but if we plan on moving forward through the thunderstorm we better start considering the possibility that some of this fluffy, “Let’s be friends” talk is worth more than its weight in words, because we really are all in this together. If we don’t learn to get past the petty bullshit, there’s a pretty good chance we’ll capsize before we make it to dry land.