From Commanding to Denial Mode: Gen Impact

Preparing children for adulthood is an overarching?role of a parent. A phrase to illustrate the idea is this: You’re not raising a child; you’re raising an adult. Every day, parents make choices and act in deliberate ways to help shape their children into people with character, respect, a sense of responsibility, motivation, and skills to help them be both successful as kids and as adults. Leading relates to this preparation. Parents’ actions speak louder than words; indeed, leading by example is more effective than lecturing.

Dr. Alexis Abramson, Dean of the?Thayer School of Engineering?at?Dartmouth College and an expert in what is known as ‘Generational cohorts’, says we define generations because “When you are born affects your attitudes, your perceptions, your values, your behaviours”. This means that each of them has their own characteristics. The classification of the cohorts more or less looks like this:

-?????The Silent Generation: 1926 -1945

-?????The Baby Boomers: 1946 - 1964

-?????Generation X: 1965 - 1980

-?????Generation Y (Millennials): 1980 - 1995

-?????Generation Z: Beginning 1997/2000

-?????The Next Generation: Alpha: Born after 2010

The Changing Contours of Communication

Dr. Abramson says the key difference between all of these cohorts is the different methods of communication they use. Where the silent generation and baby boomers had to rely on face-to-face relationships and are as a result more “engaged” in their real-life communities, the younger generations have social media for that and create their communities online instead. These differences have led to some animosity between the groups, which Dr. Abramson describes as a “chasm” in communication methods. She says it can be felt everywhere, for example in the workplace. It can be really frustrating for older generations if they’re used to asking someone a question in person when younger generations prefer to just send a message.

We all in our lives have experienced this evolving contour of communication patterns in good measure. Right from “instructive mode” to “discuss it out” to “debate” and now to “denial” we have surely traversed a long way in the way generations communicate.

The Journey Mapping

There was a time when our grandparents ruled families and expressed their ideas, opinions, and beliefs using instructive mode. However, as society evolved, people began to engage in discussions, debates, and even denial mode to express their views.

The Discussion

In the instructive mode, a person shares information with others without any intention of engaging in a discussion or debate. This model is prevalent in situations where the speaker is an authority figure, such as a teacher or lecturer, who imparts knowledge to their students or audience. In this mode, the speaker is not interested in hearing the opinions of others but only wants to convey information.

As society became more democratic and diverse, people began to engage in discussions and debates to share their opinions and ideas. Unlike the informative mode, where one person shares information, discussions involve two or more people who exchange ideas and opinions on a particular topic. In a discussion, the participants are interested in listening to the views of others, and the aim is to arrive at a common understanding of the topic being discussed.

Debate, on the other hand, is a more structured and formalized mode of communication. In a debate, two or more people argue their points of view on a particular topic. The aim of the debate is not to arrive at a common understanding but to convince the other party that their view is correct. Debates can be highly competitive and may involve logical arguments and evidence to support the claims made by each party.

In recent times, there has been an increasing trend of people engaging in denial mode of communication. In this mode, people refuse to accept facts or information that contradict their beliefs, opinions, or worldview. In denial mode, people are not interested in discussions or debates but are convinced that their views are correct, and anything that contradicts them is dismissed as false or irrelevant.

Conclusion

The mode of communication has evolved over time from instructive mode to discussion, debate, and denial mode. While the instructive mode is still prevalent in some situations, discussions and debates are becoming increasingly common, and the denial mode is a worrying trend. It is important to engage in discussions and debates, as they help us to broaden our horizons, challenge our assumptions, and arrive at a better understanding of the world around us. It would be interesting to know whether we can ascribe baby boomers & Gen X to be ‘instructive’, Gen Y & Gen Z to be more of ‘discussing and debating’ and the next generation alpha is probably in a ‘denial’ mode of communication.?