GenXwords

Archive for the ‘Defining Events’ Category

The “slacker” grew up…

In Defining Events, GenX Literature, GenX Pop Culture, Work Values on September 29, 2011 at 10:31 am

It should not be news to you that the term “slacker” is used interchangeably with Generation X. Whether you look at Douglas Copeland’s work or watch “Reality Bites“….you will see where the term originated as we stormed through our twenties.

Although I still have a bit of resentment about boomers coining this label for my generation, I still find myself sentimentally attached to it.  I must also admit that I like the irony of it now….

As my generation enters middle age we look around and suddenly see ourselves in positions of power.  Board chairs, upper management, executives….quietly making important decisions, shaping our communities, and visioning where we want more change. Yet we still identify as being the other person, the person outside the group of power and we retain our fierce distrust of authority, our love of irony and our celebration of everything outside of convention.  Here we are, reading the NYT on our iPhones while we are at our kids’ soccer games, drinking our triple grande soy latte’s in a recycled cup, joking about the “man” and how he’s got us down….while uncomfortably giggling at the irony of it all.  Our generation loves and embraces irony more than any prior or since so we view our seemingly incongruity with humor and un-attachment.  Yes folks, we have begun to take charge but we remain steadfast in our slacker reality bites roots.   And let me remind you, that is perfectly ok.

We must retain our attachment to the word slacker.  We still look for easier & better ways of doing things, getting the same result with less effort.  We still mock all that is convention while recognizing that we are now part of it, we still scoff and roll our eyes when those steeped in tradition can’t see value in new, we still appreciate the irony of sitting in positions of power when we don’t identify as one of “them”.  If we lose these very characteristics of our generation, we assimilate.  This is our time, embrace our roots and keep making change, my fellow slackers.

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Generational differences….real or just a marketing & advertising strategy?

In Defining Events, Generation demographics, Uncategorized, Work Values on May 27, 2010 at 5:44 pm

Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millenials, Traditionalists….all terms derived originally for the purpose of marketing and advertising to different demographic groups.  Labels used to define similar values, life experiences and defining events that will guide consumer buying patterns.

I ask you…are differences between generations enough to move beyond mere consumer habits and ultimately define a cultural group?  Will discussion of difference produce more than buying patterns?  Is there enough difference that studying or discussing such difference will lend insight into improved leadership,  management and outcomes of the organizations we pour our life’s work into?

Yes.

It is obvious that the world around us is changing and it is happening fast.  The challenges that non-profits face are increasing while the demographic group that has traditionally provided staff and board leadership in such organizations is in flux. The non-profit and public sectors are undergoing an evolution themselves, negotiating new funding demands, changing needs of the populations they are serving and a public that is increasingly savvy about where their dollar is spent.  Providing for and supporting leadership transition has never been more important.

What are these substantial differences you ask?  Check out this chart. It is one of the most complete looks at differences in values, communication strategies, influences, preferred work environment, attributes and skills that I’ve seen.  It focuses on significant differences while suggesting similarities.

Back to the title of this post…recognizing real difference is just as imperative to understanding one another as recognizing our similarities. Such understanding and recognition will allow for deeper interpersonal connection while helping to negotiate the demographic shift that is upon us in our organizations and communities.

Now go study that chart, I will be quizing you on it later.

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John Hughes and GenX

In Defining Events, GenX Pop Culture, Work Values on March 9, 2010 at 10:40 am

A blog about GenX just isn’t complete without mentioning John Hughes films.

Love him or hate him, Hughes was a film maker that successfully captured the hearts and spirits of many Generation X’ers.  Even the most anti establishment cliché hating of my group, still manage to be stopped in their tracks when Ferris Bueller or the Breakfast Club comes on TV on a Saturday morning.  The recent Oscar tribute (skip to 2:05 for the actual tribute) to Hughes was admittedly awkward, but the emotion it evoked in this X’er has had me reminiscing all week. It has also had me thinking about how quintessential X characters like Ferris Bueller frame how we work and live today.

The famous line from Ferris Bueller’s Day off   “Life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it”   articulates our deep desire to balance life and work.  Meanwhile, Ferris tapped into our wish to stop playing by the rules and captured our value for cool misbehavior.   And who hasn’t sat in a meeting listening to someone drone on and on and recognize some familiarity in Ben Stein’s monotone voice saying “Bueller…Bueller..”  and asked yourself, why didn’t I just pull a Ferris today?

Our fear of abandoning our values, ideals and falling into conformity is emotionally spoken by Ally Sheedy in the Breakfast Club…. “When you get older your heart dies”.   Not just a romantic Peter Pan moment but a verbalization of fear that someday,  we will do what our parents did and just work for the man.  Ally’s character also depicts my generations hidden hope to change the world, in a quiet and unassuming way.

So for all you die-hard Hughes fans who can’t get enough….a movie montage for you….    

And in case you need my permission to pull a Ferris day, I say do it.

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Generation X values…a bit more context

In Defining Events, Generation demographics, Work Values on March 2, 2010 at 2:16 pm

There is much written about key events that have shaped the values of different generations.  Before I start a big rant about how being a latchkey kid changed my perception of who I am and how I work, I thought it would be good to give a little context and list a few important events that have shaped Generation X.

As for the rant…I will deliver, just not yet.

A  few events that have influenced  my generation include:  challenger explosion, AIDS, Reaganomics, rising divorce rates, Berlin Wall,  Watergate, the end of the cold war and of course, the creation of MTV.

Dates defining the Gen X’ers vary, but tend to start somewhere in the early 1960′s and run until the late 70′s.  We generally value independence, self-reliance, informality, information, fun and non-conformity. We are the original latchkey kids which made us value balance between family and work, not letting ourselves be defined only by the work we do but the authentic relationships we develop and the change we create in our communities. We saw the old adage  “if you work hard enough you will be successful” get turned upside down.  We witnessed our parents work day and night, choosing their work over family in the hope it would pay off and then still have “the man” push them down.  We saw rules change, rugs pulled out from under you and the lemmings fall off the cliff.

It is no wonder we are cynical and pragmatic by nature, always preparing for the next rule change, longing for stability while still investing in ourselves and always seeking information that will help us negotiate the next big rule change.  GenX is the generation with the highest education levels and the generation that uses online technology the most for obtaining information…a likely response to the constant changing of rules that has defined our development.

If you are a boomer and reading this you may say “but we saw lots of rules change, Vietnam, civil rights, women’s lib…” The difference between the X’ers and the boomers when it comes to changing rules is that boomers were involved and instrumental in changing rules-they were the rebels who made it happen.   Reganomics, watergate, space shuttle challenger, AIDS, safe sex etc.  were all changes that happened to us, creating a generation of people who must react and choose to adapt to survive. The idealism of the generation before us is not lost on us, we just chalk it up to romantic notions and senior moments not rooted in today’s reality.

In an effort not to write a book here (that has already been done and I’m really not into recreating the wheel)…I will write an additional post about key events for boomers and millenials, the two other generations predominately in the workforce today.   Stay tuned….

In the meantime…please share world or national events that helped shape you.  And hold on for that rant, I’m working up to it.

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