Interview with the authors of “Bridging the Boomer Xer Gap”

By Shari Lifland

It sounds like the making of a great boxing match: in this corner, those loyal, dependable, team-loving Baby Boomers (born between 1945 and 1962); in the opposite corner, the Generation Xers (born between 1963 and 1982)—mistakenly stereotyped as self-absorbed, pampered, tech-loving, job-shifting slackers. These two philosophically opposed generations couldn't possibly cooperate successfully in the workplace—or could they?

According to a thought-provoking new book, "Bridging the Boomer Xer Gap," by Hank Karp, Connie Fuller and Danilo Sirias (Davies-Black Publishing, 2002), the commonly held negative Gen X stereotypes are just that—stereotypes—with little actual basis in reality. Backed by research culled from 400 participants at six major organizations, the authors offer suggestions for managing the integration of Boomers and Generation Xers that they hope will result in maximum productivity and job satisfaction for everybody involved. It turns out that these two generations can work and play well together, despite their differences.

In today’s workplace, the Baby Boomers are filling the ranks of management and deciding how organizations are run. They have rejected the autocratic style of their elders and replaced it with team-based learning, participative decision making and shared reward systems. However, they share office space with 40 million Generation Xers. This younger generation consists of generally high-tech, independent individuals who value interesting work and time for personal pursuits and who bring their own values, education and experiences to the workplace.

AMA’s Shari Lifland recently interviewed two of the book’s authors, Hank Karp and Connie Fuller, about the realities and myths relating to Boomers vs. Gen Xers and what strategies organizations need to embrace in order to foster an environment of cooperation and success.

Shari Lifland: The conclusion of your research is that "Generation X is significantly more individualistic AND significantly more team-oriented than the Baby Boomer generation." This sounds like a contradiction. Can you explain?

Hank Karp and Connie Fuller: The result of three years of research is not so much a contradiction as it is a paradox. The Traditional model of team building is dominant today. It evolved with the Baby Boomers and focuses on how people are similar. The basic unit is the group and the motto is, "There is no 'I' in team.” What we found is that Gen Xers want very much to be unique individuals, with unique perspectives and unique personalities. However, they do not want to be unique in isolation. They want to be part of a group without having group norms imposed upon them as a price of membership. They want to be accepted as they are.

SL: In the introduction to your book you write that your research findings surprised you. What was the biggest surprise?

HK & CF: The biggest surprise was that Gen-Xers, or any other group, could be more “group oriented” than Baby Boomers! There was nothing in the literature that even remotely suggested that finding. IT BLEW US AWAY! Boomers discovered things like group hugs. Boomers lived in communes. Boomers talked and sang about unity, “coming together” and being in harmony with one another and the universe. How much more group-oriented could any group be? Yet, the reality of our research is that they do not, in fact, value groups as much as Xers do.

SL: What are some of the long-held, incorrect assumptions about each other that the generations need to let go of?

HK & CF: Boomers need to let go of the myths that Xers are: slackers, not committed to their jobs, uncaring about the quality and importance of their work, unwilling to put in the time and effort to produce a quality product and are only concerned about when and where their next vacation will be. In fact, Xers can be very hard workers who are very committed to the job, to the company and to their fellow workers. They just commit differently: They will not, for example, be committed to anything simply because they are told they should be. Whatever they become committed to must serve a higher purpose in their mind than filling an 8-hour workday or providing a paycheck. Xers are always looking for the next new and interesting thing to do.

Xers need to let go of the myths that Boomers are: old Geezers who are resistant to change, tightly locked into a traditional way of doing things, yearn for the good ol' days and are only concerned about seniority and pension plans. While some Boomers may not be as technically savvy as Xers, the Boomer generation has always valued learning and personal development. What Boomers don’t like is unnecessary risk. If something is working, they see no reason to change it.

SL: What are some of the unique talents and values that each of these two generations brings to the workplace?

HK & CF: This is a critical question, since the greatest number of teams and work groups will be made up of members of both generations for at least the coming decade. Each group brings a set of assets that the other basically lacks, and which is essential to team effectiveness.

Additionally, Gen Xers clearly bring a comfort and expertise with technology that many Boomers lack. Xers grew up with technology and it is second nature to them. For this reason, they are able to apply technology in ways that Boomers would never even consider. On the Boomer side, there is an understanding of how businesses work and, in many cases, the psychological intricacies of people. And Boomers have a long-term horizon that Xers lack.

Rather than debating who is right, what makes more sense is helping an Xer to understand what a Boomer knows, then helping the Boomer automate and streamline processes that technology can do faster and easier than in the past. It is truly a case of not looking at things as “either/or” but as “both/and.”

SL: Every generation wants to assert its independence from the one before. Do Gen Xers really represent a new paradigm, or is this just an example of the younger generation naturally wanting to rebel against the beliefs of its elders?

HK & CF: While there is certainly an element of normal rebellion in the Xer side of the generation clash, the differences go beyond what we have seen in the past. There are three unique circumstances that have definitely created a "new breed of cat" in the Gen Xers: They are the first American generation not to have their own war, the first generation to have both parents working at full-time jobs and to be born tech-savvy. These circumstances require serious change and accommodation by our organizations.

Never before has news traveled so quickly, has information of all kinds been so readily available, have families and family life incorporated so many different definitions and variations. Xers are living out the things that Boomers only talked about. We would definitely describe their world as a very different paradigm from that of the Boomers.

SL: Why do so many teams fail? Is it because of the different points of view of Gen Xers vs. Baby Boomers, or are there other reasons?

HK & CF: Teams fail because it is hard work to make them work, and we live in an impatient society. Generational differences certainly contribute to team failure if not addressed, but by no means are they the only cause. Other factors contribute at least as much: not providing the necessary resources and training to assure success; forcing team-building as a "religion," rather than as a relevant organizational structure; building teams and then not trusting them to do what they were designed to do; and micro-managing the team process.

We should keep in mind that it is the differences among team members that make a team strong. Differences are the team’s source of energy, of new ideas, of creative responses, of fast and flexible options for success. An organization that is willing to make the necessary investment of time and effort into creating effective teams will be rewarded ten-fold.

SL: In discussing the development of positive team attitudes, you state that the long-term goal is collaboration, the mid-range objective is cooperation and the short-term goal is tolerance. Can you expand a bit on these three objectives, why they are so important and how to achieve them?

HK & CF: We have to start by setting aside the battle for power. Let go of the notion that team members have to agree, or that one side has to win. Just focus on hearing all sides of the argument. That’s tolerance.

Second, we have to look for ways to work together. Again, we do not have to agree, but we do need to see ways in which our differing perspectives can coexist. If there is something that needs to be done, and there are parts of it that either of us loves or hates, we need to let each other know. If we both love to do the same thing, then we trade off so that each of us gets to do some of it, or we look for someone who loves the part we both hate, and involve that person in getting the job done. We cooperate by working together, each contributing our individual talents in the best way possible to get the job done.

Our long-term goal is to collaborate—to co-create a pattern of working together that gets the best from both of us without losing the essence of each of us. At this point we have moved beyond the notion that my two pieces plus your two pieces give us four pieces. Instead, we think in terms of my two pieces enabling your two pieces to become three, and vice-versa, so that together we have six, not four, pieces of the puzzle. To collaborate is to co-create; that is the essence of effective teams.

SL: How has the current economic downturn, with its tighter labor market, affected Gen Xers? Do you think they'll become more company-loyal now that there are fewer opportunities out there?

HK & CF: No. Almost all core values are established between the ages of eight and fourteen. So who the Xers are, and what they critically value, was already pretty much determined by the time they hit the workforce. Along with not having the deep-seated value of "loyalty" that is usually associated with growing up with a war, most Xers grew up during the "reengineering” fad of the late '80s and early '90s. Many saw their parents laid off, and as kids they had to live with the losses of income, dignity and sense of self-worth that unemployment produces. For many, the words, "company" and "corporation" are terms that were more likely to engender resentment than loyalty.

There is a problem hidden here that needs to be addressed. Along with the value differences that set the generations apart, the "dot com" era was mostly an Xer phenomenon. In the eyes of many Boomers, here were a bunch of smart-alecky kids making it big, who never had to pay their dues. After the dot com crash and the ensuing general economic downturn, many Boomers thought, "Now we'll show these kids who’s boss and who was right all along. They're going to have to do it our way."

It’s a safe bet that Xers will put on a tie and sing the company song, if that’s what is demanded to find work. But, there is an old poster motto from the '60s that reads, "Just because you have silenced a man, don't think that you have converted him." Boomers, who are in executive positions, have a wonderful opportunity to heal some of the wounds and to facilitate a new collaborative spirit. This can best be accomplished by the organization recognizing the differences and welcoming the Xers with the respect and dignity that any valued employee deserves.

SL: Even in a tight economy, companies need to implement strategies to attract and retain the best workers. What actions should they be taking to hire and keep Gen Xers?

HK & CF: It is critical that companies find ways to engage Gen Xers quickly, hold their interest, foster commitment to fellow team members and friends in the organization and recognize and reward contributions. These are, by the way, the same things all of us want. The difference is that Boomers will stick around, even if they don’t get these things, and complain while they work. Xers will simply leave and look for what they want elsewhere.

Companies should be looking at ways in which Gen Xers will be able to meet their own needs while meeting the needs of their employers. Flexible hours are a great attraction for a Gen Xer, and companies can apply them to many more jobs than they do now. Xers prefer compensatory time off to overtime pay. They prefer good working conditions and a personalized workspace to a good pension plan. Working with close friends is sometimes more important than the extra few bucks that another position might offer. They are very responsive to training opportunities, since they increase their value to their next employer. Xers also want a working relationship with their bosses that is defined by more than a straight line on an organization chart.

The quickest way to lose a talented Xer is to treat him or her like a number or as a tool of productivity. The challenge to most Human Resource departments is to set up recruitment and compensation plans that will differentially appeal to the needs of each generation simultaneously.

SL: What lessons can Baby Boomers learn from Generation Xers? What can the Gen Xer’s learn from the Boomers?

Boomers can learn from Xers:

• Not to take themselves too seriously. The world won’t come to an end if you leave work on time or even miss a day of work.
• Individualism is not counterproductive, but rather a solid basis for effective team work.
• How to separate work and life.

Xers can learn from Boomers:

• An awareness of and appreciation for the past.
• Not to depend on quick fixes and nano-second response time to solve problems.
• The “whys” behind many of the realities of everyday life.

H. B. (Hank) Karp received his Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology from Case Western Reserve University and completed post-doctoral work in Gestalt therapy at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland. He is a licensed Professional Counselor and is the owner of Personal Growth Systems, a Chesapeake, Virginia-based consulting firm.

Connie Fuller is an Organization Development Specialist with AG Communication Systems, a subsidiary of Lucent Technologies. She teaches organization development and management courses at Webster University.

Danilo Sirias holds a Ph.D. in production and operations management from the University of Memphis. He is a certified academic in the Theory of Constraints and is an assistant professor of management at Saginaw State University.

For more information about "Bridging the Boomer Xer Gap:”
Davies-Black Publishing: www.cpp-db.com or 650-969-8901
Connie Fuller: csf6347@aol.com
Hank Karp: PGSHank@aol.com