From Bell Bottoms and Polyester to Social Distancing: The Integration of Generations

Miles Apart

Perception coupled with anecdotal data in today’s stratosphere of misinformation, lead to stereotyping based on generation.  We are constantly facilitating discussions related to just about every dimension of difference one can imagine, associated with generational differences.  For the past several years training programs have been grounded in workplace diversity on how to recruit millennials, what millennials want in the workplace and how soon there will be five generations in the workplace.  To maintain a proactive approach to managing all of the many challenges organizations face relative to generational difference,  we’ve stroked topics such as communication styles, work ethics, finance/economics, family values, goal-orientation, professional development, individualism vs collectivism, electronic vs face-to-face dialogue, social networks, internet, computer savviness, and so on!  All for the purpose of appropriately placing each generation within their own category — oh yes, and to increase awareness and understanding, of course.

A Look Back

Like bell bottoms, platform shoes and polyester suits everything comes back around.  COVID-19 has caused a naturally occurring conjoining of the generations.  Generations who presumably were fearful of computers and the internet are now elevating the economy through e-Commerce online purchases of essential products.  Millennials who were thought to have an affinity for texting rather than face-to-face conversations, now long for pre-COVID-19 social networks and interactions.  Some generations may even recall a time when social time with family was an intentionally planned event gathering after dinner to listen to wartime messages on the radio.  There was a time when regardless of generation,  there was an understanding of what it meant to share with those who were less fortunate, to uplift those who sacrificed for their fellow country person, and to value family.  Just like bell bottoms, platform shoes, and polyester suits those times have come back around.  I see us dusting off our commonalities, and pulling out the behaviors of inclusion across generations.  Perhaps when we look back at this time, it will cause us to  redesign our training curricula to focus more on those dimensions we share in common rather than on those which highlight our differences.

Let me begin the appreciative inquiry…..Think about a time when you shared a value in common with a person from a different generation.  What was the event or time?  Which value did you share in common?