Battles seem to be emerging everywhere: over religion, geography, politics, sports, beliefs, families, and so much more. Front and center for the last few years, and steadily growing, is the divide between the generations attempting to co-exist in the workplace.

One of the appeals of my academic life is that it is important to preserve an environment where debate can occur. Where intelligent people can disagree without being disagreeable. Where subjects, even the most controversial, can be pushed front and center. Yes, I admit those environments are becoming fewer, but they still exist.

However, the workplace as a venue for debate or challenge no longer exists. With political correctness and woke agendas, leaders and coworkers are reluctant to engage or push boundaries of a potential incendiary topic, and what today is not a potential controversy? When the element of challenging discussion no longer exists, a company stops its growth or fails to optimize performance and results. 

In today’s society, we no longer seek compromise because we have neither the desire nor the skill set. To those who fail to agree with us, we, in turn, must either, at best, dismiss or, at worst, hate. 

In this column, I want to offer a potential understanding of the generational conflict. As a numbers guy, I like math and explaining things with math. Often, this results in people hearing what they “need to hear” rather than what they “want to hear.” This explains the renewed refrain for the historic phrase: “Don’t kill the messenger.” 

For foundational reference:      

 Baby boomers, in many, many cases, still remain at the top of organizations, and their population is being challenged more frequently. Boomers, buckle your seatbelts and understand that the following facts are sobering and less than motivational. Remember, “Don’t kill the messenger.”

The earliest boomers are now turning age 80.

11,300 boomers reach retirement age (65) every day. 

55% of all boomers are already retired.

7,000 boomers die every day. 

2.6 million boomers will die this year. 

Every 12 seconds, a boomer dies. 

Simple extrapolation of the math suggests that the number of baby boomers dying will accelerate to 4 million annually over the next decade. Ouch ... let’s put some ice on that and understand that we may need to get moving on that bucket list. 

Now, to the problem. As the following chart reflects, today 85% of your workforce is already made up of Generations X, Y and Z. In fact, baby boomers represent only 15% of today’s workforce, with many, as noted, remaining at the top. 

It is problematic, is it not, that our leaders find it increasingly difficult to relate to 85% of those they are attempting to lead? There’s the rub ... the ever-shrinking minority is attempting to lead the ever-expanding majority with whom they didn’t grow up. 

To boomers, a job and the company we leave behind are not just a means of employment, but the legacy of our lives. In our generation, a job wasn’t only what you did; it also defined who you were. We get serious about what and who is coming behind us, as it is to those we leave the stewardship of our life’s work. 

Yes, indeed, we want our life’s work respected and taken seriously. We must look at the enterprise as something we build that will outlast us. Someone once told my partner and me that it was “OUR company,” to which I corrected him and said it was actually “only OUR turn.” Such is the trust embedded in the concept of stewardship. We entrust our legacy to the next generation, along with our advice, whether heeded or not, which will contribute to their own success and that of the organization. Perhaps you ignore at your peril? 

Recently, I was thinking of renaming my column: “The Dinosaur Diaries.” However, before I offer advice to the next wave of leaders, let me attempt to establish “street cred.” In the spirit of that, please know that I also challenge my own baby-boom generation. I advise that as we caution the next wave of the workforce to avoid debt, be fiscally prudent and act responsibly with money, are we not the very generation leaving them with $39 trillion in debt ... $8 trillion more than an entire year’s GDP? Boomers, note this hurts our credibility. 

Now, on the other hand, to those of you wanting it all and wanting it right now, let’s perhaps level-set a bit. Advice No. 1: There is no shortcut to success. Know that a career is not a sprint, but rather a marathon. Do not campaign for acceleration into a position for which you are not yet qualified. Such is a prescription for failure. Think of the baseball pitcher called up from the minors to the “show” too early. The risk is in ruining them. 

As I have mentioned in previous columns, success requires mentorship, for which you need a mentor. A mentor can break or make a career. I find that successful people want to mentor, but to be an attractive protégé that someone actually wants to mentor, you must be coachable. Too many rising stars in industry or brilliant students in university will ask for a meeting under the guise of: “I want to bounce an idea off you for your input.” In reality, they don’t want any feedback that pushes back or challenges. The purpose of their meeting is to simply be lauded. 

The generation(s) following the incredibly successful boomers embrace the popular narrative of “work-life balance,” to which the boomer responds: “I’ve got an idea ... come to work and work your ass off, for which I will pay you. Then go home and balance your life. Your balance or happiness is not the responsibility of the organization.” Now, perhaps, these post-boomers may be right. There may be something to this work/life balance. After all, no boomer on their deathbed ever said, “I wish I spent more time in the office.” It was simply how we were taught. It was what was expected of us. It was all we knew. 

At its core, this clash exists because boomers fear that the next generation(s) are not yet ready, and the next generations feel the boomers are hanging on too long, blocking or delaying “their” opportunity. Nobody wants to accept that it’s over. Careers go too fast. How does one leave the very things that define them? It’s fearful and, for many, paralyzing. They embrace the paraphrase of George Bernard Shaw, “We don’t stop working because we grow old; we grow old because we stop working.”

So, in the end, I would encourage the boomers or those who remain to have confidence in the next generation. It is a bit better than ... God help us all!  I get a good look at them in our industry, our company and in the classroom. We’ll be fine as they do have “game.” To Generations X, Y and Z, next time you start a sentence with “OK Boomer,” perhaps end it with, “Thanks for leaving us the means of employment.”

“Every generation thinks they’re smarter than those that come before, and wiser than those who follow.” — George Orwell.