In Generations (1991), Strauss and Howe proposed the
theory of generational cohorts, where every generation of twenty or
so years reacts to and is part of the previous generation's systems
and framework.
In 2000 they published Millennials Rising. This work
investigated the emergence of the Millennials, born 1982 to 2001,
and their relationship and involvement with their previous
generations, the Boomers and Generation X (GenX, or Xers). In
contrast to the downbeat and alienated youngsters familiar to their
own childhood, Strauss and Howe suggested that this new generation
would be engaged and upbeat. They accounted this to their
"Generational Awakening" theory, casting Millennials as the next
great generation, even comparing their potential to the last great
generation, that of the GI WWII vets.
In developing this theory, Strauss and Howe identified four
repeating trends which create each generational cohort. These
trends are: Civic, Adaptive, Idealist and Reactive. Civic starts
the generational trend with the GI generation of WWII. The GIs were
born between 1901 and 1924. The Adaptive follows in the next
generation, this time Silents, who were born between 1925 and 1942.
Boomers are the Idealist trend, born between 1943 and 1960. GenX
follows as Reactive between 1961 and 1981. And Millennials then
follow to repeat the Civic trend and are born between 1982 and
2001. See the chart below for each Strauss and Howe generational
characteristics.
|
Generational Group
|
Trend
|
Birth Year
|
Characteristics
|
|
G.I. Generation
|
Civic
|
1901-1924
|
respond to a social crisis (WWII); focus on common good,
Community, rebuilding the world
|
|
Silent
|
Adaptive
|
1925-1942
|
flexible; sensitive to diversity (told to 'stay out of the way,
we're busy' during WW2). Note: no US president or UK prime minister
from this group
|
|
Boomers
|
Idealist
|
1943-1960
|
spiritual awakening; aim to 'take things forward'
|
|
GenX
|
Reactive
|
1961-1981
|
cynical, pragmatic, questioning
|
|
Millennial
|
Civic
|
1982-2001
|
optimistic, success-oriented, conservative
|
|
New Silent
|
Adaptive
|
2001-2022
|
Similar to the first Silent?
|
According to these ideas, Millennials now enter the workplace
with an awful lot of promise, as well as encumbrances. We list them
as the tethered generation, continuing to be raised by their
helicopter parents long after they have finished college and
entered the workforce. They are also the single pet/children of the
Boomers and Xers, raised with not only seatbelts, but side airbags,
baby monitors, bicycle helmets, scheduled playdates, and
participation trophies. Because of this, Millennials want to be
protected, entertained, scheduled, want instant rewards, and expect
to run your company (if not rule the world), by their second full
week on the job. While Strauss and Howe talk about how wonderful
this new "Civic" workforce will be, we, as executives and managers,
have to figure out if we need to change the entire workplace to
help them in working for us.
Additionally, this is the first time in history that there are
four generations active in the workplace. There are Silents, Baby
Boomers, Xers and Millennials. With Millennials, it's the other
three generations that are feeling forced to change in order to fit
the coddled children now in the building.
Who are these Millennials and what
are their promises and challenges?
As over-scheduled children, Millennials are now experiential
learners; they prefer learning by doing, but within a framework of
organization. They also have a nomadic communication style,
talking to or texting their friends constantly.
Because they are singletons within their immediate families,
they respect adulthood, they strive to be learning, respect
intelligence and education, and most will go directly onto graduate
school. But because of the college requirements, they also come
into the workplace with excessive debt from student loans, and want
to earn as much as possible to retire that debt.
Millennials are collaborators. After many years of being forced
to play nice during playdates, daycares, schools, and soccer teams,
they now embrace peer-to peer networks, social-networking sites,
and other structured team activities.
The firm must measure outcome-based performance. If your
Millennials are getting the job done faster than anticipated, give
them more to do. Don't settle for poor quality, but don't get
mad if they are also conducting personal conversations (or watching
Youtube) while they're working.
Keep Millennials engaged, because their attitude will be: "if my
skills are developing, I'll stay; if not, I'll go somewhere
else."
Just as you should have done for your Boomers (long ago), as
well as for your Xers, your firm should offer your Millennials
multiple mentors and a schedule to help registration for the
IDP.
But what about these other generations? The Silents, the
Boomers, and the Xers? They're not going away. How can the firm
work with this blended community of workers?
According to the Generational Awakening theory, each
generational cohort plays its part as an actor in the span of time.
Civics focus on the common good and are Millennials and GIs.
Adaptives (the Silents) react neutrally against this goodness and
tend to stay out of the way and behave themselves. Idealists are
the next group and, rather than focusing on the common good, they
focus on themselves. This is the "me" generation of Boomers.
Reactives look at the mess the self-centered Idealists left and
become ironic and cynical. Look at the comedy of Jon Stewart and
Chris Rock to see Xer views.
Silents: This is the Korean War vet generation. Born from
1925 to 1942, they were in their 20s and 30s in the 1950s, just in
time for atom bombs and cold wars. In this group, only males were
in the workforce, while women stayed at home and raised families
(94%). Only 22% went to college and in the 1950 and 60s work was in
major industries (70% currently have some sort of pension plan (ask
your Millennials if they even know what a pension plan is)). In the
1950 and 60s, this group had full health insurance, vacation and
sick plans, and company cars. What they didn't have was a safe
world. In 1952, at the end of a particular nasty polio epidemic,
58,000 people had been infected, resulting in over 3,000
deaths.
The times make the man. A lot of the resentment to young staff's
seemingly insubordinate behavior and demands comes from the
background of its leaders.
Baby Boomers. This is the pig in the python for business
management. This cohort, born between 1943 and 1960, runs
practically everything right now. In late 2008, we've lived life
under the Boomer world view since the late 1970s. Defining moments
in the 20-year coming of age for the Boomer include Woodstock (of
course), Vietnam (58,148 casualties), the birth control pill, and
Nixon's resignation. The business world works the way it does today
because of Boomers. During their time at the wheel, personal
savings has decreased from 12% in 1982 to 0.1% in 2007 (though in
2008 it is back up to 2.5%).
GenX. This cohort was born between 1961 and 1981. These
workers followed the Boomers into the workforce and were quickly
met with a one-two punch of inflation and recession. Interest rates
were 19% during President Reagan's first term in 1981. In addition
to the economy, Xers defining moments were the Challenger space
shuttle explosion, the Berlin Wall and Soviet collapse, and the
first Gulf war. Xer icons were Less than Zero, Kurt Cobain,
Alf, He-man, and Skeletor. Xers came of age in the 1980s and then
wondered what happened in the 1990s.
Xers are the neglected cohort. Just five years ago, in 2003, at
the AIA National Convention in San Diego, N. Boyce Appel presented
to the PMKC breakfast his view of generations within the
workforce. While not pinned against Strauss and Howe's
Generational Awaking theory, he suggested that firms treat Xers by
following these polite directives:
-Appreciate us. Show you care.
-Be flexible. Let us have a life beyond work.
-Create a team. Give us the family we never had.
-Develop us. Help us to increase our skills.
-Involve us. Ask our opinions.
-Lighten up. Remember, it's not brain surgery.
-Walk your talk. Practice what you preach.
It's amazing how history suggests the same solutions, only five
years ago…
This article is based on the continuing education session
given at the 2008 AIA Convention by Meg Brown and Cliff Moser.
Brown and Moser are presenting a panel on GenX leadership at
the PMKC fall conference, and have also created a podcast on this
topic.
Like this article? Search AIA Soloso for more articles on this
topic, such as this one by Rena Klein, FAIA!
