“Waa Waa Waa” Say the Boomers

How telling that Boomers feel the need to have yet another session on how an “other” affects them. Because... It really is all about them, isn’t it? Few of the comments referred to long-term strategies to prepare X-ers and Next-ers for their (our) future roles as senior administrators in the Higher Ed.

Seems like the only time a session is needed on a topic about the two new generational waves is when our activities distract the Boomers from basking in their own self-attributed greatness. Do some of us have deficiencies? Yes, clearly! Many of the Gen Next-ers were raised in the some of the wealthiest environments in Human History. The same work ethic that pulled their grandparents up by their boot straps has been lost on this next generation.

Here’s an idea. Instead of getting together and having another whining session of referring to the age of some prized possession in comparison to that of your employees, perhaps consider brainstorming on the incredible ways that these next generations of HE administrators will radically change every aspect of our nation’s education? How will you facilitate these changes? Or, are you feeling that your hegemony is truly so threatened that you must deride and squash those who are next in line?

You are right, though. We should have higher levels of productivity. It’s difficult, however, because we spend so much time away from our work to show you how to use your iPods, cell phones, PowerPoint and laptops.

Gen-X Segura, at 8:10 am EDT on July 11, 2007

Aged iPod Users

The only person in my office who regularly listens to his iPod is about 55. I’m 27, and prefer streaming radio to podcasts.

Allison, at 9:00 am EDT on July 11, 2007

re: can’t take it anymore!

How do you know you work with a baby boomer? Other than age, here are the tell-tale signs:

*Complaining and whining...but rarely offering any practical solutions. *An odd, almost disturbing, fascination with titles and other artificial constructs that have little to do with actual work, but a lot to do with satisfying egos. Watch a baby boomer whose title or status has been changed — it is comical to notice the emotional energy they invest in it. *A complete inability to use evidence, preferring to judge things based on personal experience and anecdote, as evidenced in this article. Rather than cite research about generational differences, baby boomers prefer to reference an isolated and unique case and then apply the experience to a whole group of people.*And finally, the ability to take a society at the near peak of its wealth and, rather than doing something noble like helping the environment, investing in education, or advancing peace, squandering that wealth on a pointless war, tax cuts for the very wealthy, and making embarassingly little progress on environmental sustainability.

Generations will ultimately be judged on whether they left society in a better situation for the next generation. If the worst a baby boomer can say about an x-er is that a few, not all, of them listen to their iPod at work, I respond that, as evidenced by what the boomers have done to our society and not for it, it could be much worse.

PS, at 9:25 am EDT on July 11, 2007

Tweener perspective

Hi all,

While I fall (35 years old) somewhere between the boomers and the younger staff members, I have to admit that I’m more annoyed by some of the younger staff I work with. This isn’t true for every 20 something staff member by any means, but I do agree that there are generational differences around work ethic and how technology is used (with a few 20 somethings displaying, not all of them by any means, a weaker work ethic). I have often let staff members (all 20 somethings) know that I’ll wait while they complete their IM chat before continuing to talk about planning a proces or event.Generalizations are not always helpful of course, but there are generational differences and I agree with whomever said that we can learn from each other.

TE, at 9:50 am EDT on July 11, 2007

Gen-ralization

The so-called “boomer” generation that produced Abbie Hoffman also produced Dan Quayle, which proves nothing but suggests that there’s no percentage in generalizing about generations when it comes to co-workers. Labeling the young person next to me (I’m 60, so most of my co-workers are younger than I) as being of this or that generation is tantamount to making assumptions based on race or gender. It’s repugnant and unfair. We speak of each other in these terms as though nothing ever changes, as though we are what we are, period, based on our demographic cohort. Well, news flash: Change is continuous; we’re not stamped as something at birth but are born to become something; and everyone becomes something else whether we like it or not. It is scandalous to speak of young people as though they must be manipulated in the workplace. “They” are us, not some alien species or tribe whose folkways don’t mesh with ours. “They” are what we have become in society. “They” are our children who have become young adults, and “they” will become us over time — and sooner or later, “they” will struggle with the inevitable but creative tension between themselves and succeeding generations. In “boomer” talk: Let it be. Let “them” be who they are becoming — and for goodness’ sake, let’s drop all the demeaning, reductionist labels.

Ron George, Project Writer at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, at 10:00 am EDT on July 11, 2007

In my view

As one born in 1980 and working in Higher Education, I find myself torn on this issue. I have seen many co-workers, young and old find many ways to waste time at work. An older co-worker might not surf the internet, instead they spend all their time chatting to the co-worker in the next cubicle. Personally, I have a very strong work ethic and try everyday to work as hard as I can. I am offended to think that I could be seen as less productive because I listen to the radio online or my ipod as opposed to my older co-worker who turns on her ancient stereo and tape player in her office and goes about her work. I also find that many baby boomers are resistent to changes and technology that could make the workforce better, telecommuting for example. There is no reason why some of the work that I do can’t be done at home. I can be just as productive at home. However, many older people seem tied to the old 9-5 grind. Complaining is useless. Solutions are better. But on a final note, you can complain as much as you want about Gen-X’s but unfortunately we are who we are because of how we were raised, by Baby Boomers.

DCN, at 10:40 am EDT on July 11, 2007

Hit the nail on the head

Ron hit the nail on the head. It is the same labeling that creates these gaps umongsts generations in the first place. We become who we are and what we are because of what we are exposed to as we grow up...it is a result of many decisions made by both parents and self. It is not entirely based on what generation we are born into...I for one am 29yrs old and I am not into the Myspace, e-mail, IMs, Blogs, text messaging and such...I am more like my parents when it comes to work ethics...because I choose to be.

Juan, Specialist, at 10:50 am EDT on July 11, 2007

Technical incompetence isn’t a purely boomer characteristic; some of us do get it, and some Xers don’t—believe me. Similarly, not all us boomers have been blindly swallowing hegemonic capitalism, globalism, and “peacekeeping". And some younger people have. Although I think there are some legitimate generational differences that can be problematic for people with little adaptability, what we see here mostly is the age-old “old fogies” vs. “callow youth” thing. In my day it was cracks about transistor radios and TV, and we railed against the oldsters who’d squandered their promise on consumer goods, organized religion, and American exceptionalism.I do agree with those who suggest we should look at whatever real differences there are from an heuristic standpoint & see what’s good and new that might come of it, and address any potential problems intelligently (hint: the problem isn’t listening to iPods).

JC, Guess my label, at 12:00 pm EDT on July 11, 2007

Get over it

I am scared that professionals in the higher education community—regardless of age—are spending time bickering over these trivial differences.

Jonathan Weller, at 1:10 pm EDT on July 11, 2007

We have the wrong focus here. . . .

Let’s get back to American survival in a competitive world. Yes we have generational differences that cause us some turmoil, but the bigger picture is clear — Xers and Nexers will run the world in the next 20 years and our American economic survival will depend on a viable transition plan from boomers to Xers.

Our failure is assuming that boomers simply need to learn these “modern” tools in order to relate to the next wave. On the contrary, boomers need to harness and focus the savvy technology natives that will follow them in order to hand off our systems. Whether public or private sector, we have a massive demographic shift underway (age, race, and ethnicity). Our goal cannot be the forceful blending of the generations for purposes of closing the technology gap, but rather the smooth transition of leadership to ensure continuity and sustainability.

Let’s spend as much time on succession planning as we do on vilifying each other. Technolog is a key tool, but it is not by itself the ultimate goal.

Chris Reykdal, Admin. Director at SBCTC, at 2:00 pm EDT on July 11, 2007

nothing new

What I don’t get is that Ipod do things that have been done for hundreds of years: play music. Is this something new? Why are people pretending that this generation is doing things that previous generations have not done.

Blogs are a means of personal expression. Nothing new there. In fact, the founding fathers were pretty much bloggers (some anonymous). They just had slower processors, and slower throughput. But somehow some babyboomers think that it is cool to act as if it is all new.

Moreover, there is no rule saying that a given type of music must be played on an Ipod. (In fact, I don’t even listen to music on mine, but people might still think I am hip.) Likewise, there is no rule that says that Blogs need only talk about that music: they run from knitting to politics to whiney academics to science to math to antiques. Some of them are even stupid personal missives.

Larry, at 2:05 pm EDT on July 11, 2007

any individuals in the room?

Perhaps some of us take generational labels/descriptions too seriously. Although they enable us to understand change among generations, they can’t describe and explain every individual in a particular generation and aren’t meant to do so.

By the way, I still occasionally help younger people with technology (even my very bright 21-year-old daughter). At age 70, I also realize that I should recognize when to get out of the way,

David Fahey, at 3:15 pm EDT on July 11, 2007

Critical Thinking

As a 38-year-old “tweener,” I remember what it was like when most college students hand-wrote drafts of their papers, and “typing it up” was a separate stage of composition, even though I myself began word-processing all my major writing assignments around middle school. (I would request permission to submit word-processed papers!)

Even the students who don’t recognize terms like “blog” or “social network” almost certainly are either in some kind of a social network. But that does not mean these students know how to use these tools critically.

I’m very conscious that the skills I developed teaching via message boards, e-mail and PowerPoint look stuffy to younger students. And that means I have to think critically about the skills I have spent years trying to master, since the landscape is constantly shifting under our feet.

While young, heavily wired people are not as skilled at tasks such as close textual reading or composing a sustained argument, they do have a different set of problem-solving skills (the ability to make connections, access to a wide network of experts, the willingness to take a risk and put a half-formed idea out there to see what happens, etc.).

A news article like this needs to set up clear oppositions in order to make the thesis clear, but I agree with those who have expressed impatience when the discussion starts to look like finger-pointing.

As Ong reminds us, writing is technology; it had a profound affect on human thought. Essays and books are no more “natural” vehicles for the perpetuation of knowledge than web pages or even videogames. Our students may be the ones who produce videogames that change the world. Let’s give them a chance, by challenging them to think about THEIR media as powerfully and as effectively as our teachers and mentors taught us to think about OUR media.

Dennis G. Jerz, Assoc. Professor of English — New Media Journalism at Seton Hill University, at 10:05 pm EDT on July 11, 2007

why “critical thinking” is a distraction

I still don’t understand the tendency to justify one’s position by saying that the other person’s position evinces a lack of “critical thinking.” Look, being able to “think critically” about a problem is part of a discipline which takes quite some time to acquire. You don’t (or rather, should not) “teach” critical thinking, but rather you introduce people to the way that analysis is undertaken in a discipline. Different disciplines have different modes of analysis and different assumptions. If you are really smart you can “dual boot” between two modes of analysis (that you have a graduate-level understanding of) and draw comparisons and find similarities. Unfortunately, at the moment, people are told that “interdisciplinary” is a substitute for mastery.

So, to Dr. Jerz, your complaint isn’t that young people are not making the arguments that fit into your paradigm. Likewise, you seem to have some beef that IHE didn’t thoroughly show some conflict. But, 1) somehow or other, students are still going on to graduate programs which require “close reading” of texts; and 2) the commentators on here seem to understand the conflicts, and are aptly using the evidence presented in the article to do so.

Larry, at 7:30 am EDT on July 12, 2007

Since when is goofing off a generational thing?

Let’s face it:

Why shouldn’t a chronic napper be fired?

Why shouldn’t a time-wasting web-surfer be reprimanded?

Why can’t employees be expected to *NOT* make personal phone calls and IMs on company time [that they are being paid to work during]?

Why do I even have to ask these questions???

Because this current generation of young people...say age 25 and under?..seem to believe that these activities are acceptable professional behavior.

Is it all of them? Thank goodness, no.

Is it a LOT of them? Holy Criminey, yes!

Is it their fault? Do they do alone? No, because some adult[s] had to encourage [or not DIScourage] this behavior as they grew up. It’s commonplace, as just about every college instructor can testify to.

After all, LazyLucy and SlackerSam probably had a MoochMommy and DelinquentDaddy to teach them their bad habits.

Cultural mores are changing. Is the change for the good? I doubt it.

TM, at 4:30 am EDT on July 13, 2007