A New Kind of Diversity: Making the Different Generations on Your Team a Competitive Advantage

By the late 1980s, Generation X had become the hot topic. This youth population represented everything alternative: they were unplugged, grunge, and commonly called the “MTV generation.”

This book is more about sociology than psychology. It is about how growing up in different time periods and experiencing different realities can affect a person’s mindset on a team.

On top of that, if you were born within five years of the beginning or end of a generation, you’ll likely adopt characteristics from both the previous and the upcoming one.

Second, professionals have always assumed that kids are lazy or disrespectful (dating back to Socrates), but the generation gap is more distinct because new technology creates subcultures. Hence, generations often don’t have to connect to survive. We need insight in order to bridge these subcultures in workplaces and among families.

In any case, when the newest generation shows up at work having never had a full-time job nor worked alongside professionals, it can be frustrating.

2. When we’re scared, we become more concerned with protocol than progress.

First, it includes the benefits of each generation in the workforce, including Generations Y and Z. Second, it offers ideas on how to leverage each generation’s benefits to a team, making the most of what each demographic has to offer. Third, it furnishes a plan to practice principles on social and emotional intelligence among all team members.

As each generation comes of age, they have the option to develop into a strong or weak population of adults. They can become known more for consuming or contributing, to become victors or victims of their era.

When I began my career, the mantra of most bosses was, “Leave your personal problems at the door. You are here to work.” Today the mantra seems to be, “Bring your whole selves to work.”