Enough
Can people please, PLEASE stop making lists of websites you can visit to understand the mysterious species known as young people? I realize all of this stuff is good-intentioned, but I am genuinely convinced that the effort to create types that will explain the generations is, in and of itself, unhelpful. One of the things I like best about working for Government Executive is that there is really strong intergenerational communication and cooperation here. And we have that, because people from different generations talk to each other in the office, not because any of the editors have gone out and signed up for Twitter accounts in an effort to understand the younger writers better, not because any of us writers went out and read a bunch of books on generational types and decided to curb our tendencies towards independence and innovation in deference to our elders. Don't go surf a bunch of social networking sites if you want to understand your younger employees. Go talk to them. Seriously.
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Government Executive Editor in Chief Tom Shoop, along with other editors and staff correspondents, take a fresh look at news affecting the management and operations of the federal bureaucracy.
RE: quote -- PLEASE stop making lists of websites you can visit to understand the mysterious species known as young people? – end quote. My apologies Ms. R, but I was
Concerned Retiree Posted Friday, July 31, 2009 1:10 AMunaware of this particular problem – I’m one of your older readers at 60+ years. Please perform a pro bono, and balance the need for intergenerational understanding by providing a list of the websites whereby young people can go to better understand us aged readers. Surely both young and old can benefit from web sourced info that provides a comfortable way station before advancing to the rigors of just talking to their age-reciprocals. Regarding your specific recommendation for understanding the young -- i.e. go talk to them – I’ve tried a variation of this technique, but with very mixed results. Specifically: over the last 5 years, I’ve asked a standardized question – as an ice breaker-- to a sample of young people -- i.e. my young adult relatives by blood or marriage. My sample is now all mid-twenties, some married, some single, some college grads, some not. But, despite our family connection, in response to my standard question, I receive few direct answers, and many non-answers and non-sequiturs, such as: 1) pass the gravy gramps – note: I am over 60; 2) pass the potato salad, 3) pass the bar-b-qued chicken, 4) get real dude [sic], 5) what’s curfew at Sun City these days, 6) pass the red wine, 7) yo dude, you best lay off red and white. My standard question has been: quote--In performance, why is Mick Jagger so angry?—end quote. Well finally, I’ve realized that the Stones long ago moved into the uncool zone of classic rock, becoming fit topics only for boomers and Buick owners. Therefore, in line with the times, I’m formulating a new standard question – still in draft – as follows: quote--Has Lady Gaga gone too buff in studio, and anyway, are you still down?—end quote. So, next time, I don’t get a direct answer, I don’t pass the gravy. Plus ca change.
It is great that where you work people communicate. However, the intergenerational issue: 4 generations in the workplace, is a key one in every Federal department and even in how people interact in the Washington, DC area.
There is much improvement that can be made among different generations and how they work and communicate (or not) and this will be a driver in how much each Fed. Dept. improves during the next several decades.
This is a key human capital and performance issue, and we would be wise to include it among training/discussions for all Federal employees and contractors.
Another perspective Posted Monday, August 3, 2009 3:49 PM