Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.
George Orwell
"I can't get him to call me back," my brother-in-law has told me on more than one occasion, talking about one of his sons. He calls him, can't reach him, leaves a voice-mail message expecting a call back rather quickly and it doesn't happen.
We have laughed about this over and over. Sometimes he doesn't even get a call back. And he is really surprised. I'm not.
I don't have that problem with his sons. When I need a response, want to check in or want one of them get in touch with me, I use another method. I send a message via Facebook or a text message. Almost immediately, we are talking to each other.
I just read a report about the use of mobile technology that provided this stat: 95 percent of text messages are read within four minutes of receiving the message; for email messages, it's 48 hours.
It's Baby Boomer meets Millennial. Don't call; send a text. Just this week, I had a conversation with a college student and needed to follow up with him in a few days. As we departed he asked: "Do you text or should I call you?"
Generations respond differently, have different values, heroes, defining moments and perspectives.
That was the heart of a message at a recent refresher conference I attend where Dale Carnegie instructors answered a few questions related to various generations and discussed how we need to adjust our method of communication to a wide range of people to better connect with them.
Each group was arranged by the generation they belonged to: Veterans (1925-44), Baby Boomers (1945-64), Gen X (1965-83) and Millennials or Gen Y (1984-2002).
So, what group do you fit in? Now, answer the following questions (like we did) and think about the answer each generation might provide.
What was your first car?
Mine was a blue, two-door, three-speed Corvair with an eight-track player in it (explain that to a Gen Y). I loved that car. I remember my father taking me out to the parking lot at Bowman Gray Stadium to teach me how to drive it, change gears and navigate a hill. I was scared to death the first time I had to stop on a steep hill and go again without hitting the car behind me.
What was a top song the year you graduated from high school?
Here is one I remember partying to at a basement party in 1970: The Jackson Five's ABC. Another one that is appropriate today is Edwin Starr's War. In the year I was born, 1951, it was Nat King Cole's Too Young.
I remember playing records on turntables (33s, 45s and 78s). You might have to explain what those numbers mean. Ask a young person what a record or a cassette is today and they have no idea, no clue. Now we have CDs, MP3s and most recently you can download your music and store it in the "clouds."
If you are a boomer, veteran or older you might not know what that means. It isn't the clouds in the sky. You better ask someone or better still, visit Amazon.com for details.
So, keep looking through the lens of the different generations and think about the formative years, the life-shaping, influential events that shape us. This week was the anniversary of one for my Baby Boomers, the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
For Gen Y or Millennials, it is 9/11.
Here are some other areas we discussed: significant experiences, heroes, dominant personality traits, core values, fears, hope for the future and work ethic. By the way, what did you learn to type on?
It was an interesting discussion. I encourage you to answer the questions and discuss them across generations. It should make for an interesting conversation.
I had a conversation last week with a 5-year old (Gen Z or the Digital Generation, 2003-current).
"What do you like to do?" I asked him.
"Play games on the phone," he said.
"What games?" I wanted to know.
"Angry Birds."
Nigel Alston lives in Winston-Salem. He can be reached at nalston1@triad.rr.com.
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