Generations-Part One

"We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now."-Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was a phenomenal communicator. He traversed the gulf of differing perspectives of age, race, politics and religious views during an era when to do so effectively was rare – if not surreal. His quote shares the reality we all come from different mindsets, but travel on the same boat of humanity. It may be laden with shared mentality. Conversely, it could be harsh and difficult to manage if we all fail to piece together our puzzle of existence in a harmonious manner as in Martin’s era, people found themselves dealing with the differences of others on a daily basis. The population is increasing, travel has surpassed the speed of sound and communication is just a button to Tweet away to any location on the planet. We’ve condensed as a society.               .                                                                                                                                                             Every individual on the planet shares personal and lifestyle characteristics consistent with their own generation. And, generations are defined by the cumulative experiences within each generation. Some individuals, like Reverend King managed to crossover these generational milestones using intellect, a spirit of healing and comprehensions, which reached beyond the immediate circumstance. Others have to work to understand other generations. We often chuckle and share chagrin over the antics of varied generational stereotypes, media is riddled with advertisements addressing generational divides, but why division? Why not unity! We can engage one another to build a solid collective consciousness by incorporating the strengths of each generation and learning from the weaknesses.

To understand varied generations, we need to find similarities first. Then look at our differences. In doing so, we establish logic behind both and this results in compassionate learning. We can then judge competencies and make determinations regarding essential takeaways.

All generations carry misconceptions about how they should handle life. People within a generation typically carry these fallacies. This is puzzling to say the least. Our generalizations about any given generation are not fair to the people from the generation. Generational stereotypes do not build bridges; they build divides.

Here’s an example of differing generational mindsets regarding Medicare, for instance:

A thirty-year-old lawyer tells her Medicare client her generation will never receive Medicare as the country "will be bankrupt by the time she is old enough to qualify.” It is apparent the lawyer is despondent about the future, she goes on to say among her generation there is a lack of trust with the government to work together as a generational group in lobbying for political change.

The lawyer continues and states this lack of trust extends to people working together as a group to promote positive change. She adds her generation extends a lack of individual trust even among friends and spouses, mentioning her husband. Her closing comment to her client is, "It's a ‘dog eat dog world out there—each of us is on our own,’ most of my friends believe we can only trust ourselves."

The lawyer’s commentary is sad. She basically admonished the client for being a Medicare recipient, almost suggesting the client didn’t manage well in including Medicare in her current living condition. Her thinking was that her “generation” will have used up Medicare and thus, making it unavailable for others in the future. Medicare was part and participle of financial planning for retirement. It wasn’t a dog-eat dog world to them. It is a give through taxation and get through benefit, when the time came for them.

The lawyer demonstrated a lack of compassion for the client and the inability to see beyond her generation, which is another dilemma in the generational divides. To the lawyer her commentary rather than rude, superficial and selfish from her perspective was well-informed and twenty-first centrist enlightened. Both the lawyer and client walked-away from this conversation feeling the other was totally unaware of the reality of their own situation. This ingredient in modernity requires resolution. Human beings need to stave off generational prejudices and introduce generational alliances.

The book, The Generational Puzzle (https://www.amazon.com/Generational-Puzzle-Joyce-Knudsen-ebook/dp/B01C194MM4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510671780&sr=8-1&keywords=THE+GENERATIONAL+PUZZLE) goes into all the generations and how people in that generation looked at life. This is crucial information for anyone in business to understand as offices are filled with people from many of the generations and in order to communicate, we must know what is important to each generation.

In a world connected by apps, cells, IPads, social media(s) and relentless marketing blasts—degrees of isolation are expanding daily. Even our most educated new generations, such as the attorney in the previous example, feel isolated and lack understanding regarding the seasons of life within a modern society.

Many of us have been on the receiving end of a generational misunderstanding in our experiences with one another. The youngest generation considers parents seeming need for authority intrusive. The idealistic Baby Boomer cannot understand why their children prefer cell phones and texting over personal visits or calling on a landline. The list can go on ad nauseam, but are we intentionally different?

Rather than suspend judgment and seek to build bridges of understanding – it appears we elect “not” to hear what others have to say. Some generations believe things work well when everyone engages as part of a team, feeling everyone has something valuable to add to an experience. To them, this binds humanity. Another generation may believe separatism and individual success rank over a teaming association. These are extreme variables to overcome in gaining insight, clarity and in putting “The Generational Puzzle” together to form a view of appreciation towards one another.

There are varied interpretations concerning actual dates; we’ve chosen a census timeline for our barometer. In reviewing The Generations by Year and Age, each of us find our generational configuration. We have all been assigned (like it or not) a generational title.

For example, the Baby Boomer Generation as the result of returning servicemen from the Second World War, which are not solely phenomena of the United States. The World War involved all nations of the planet, therefore – Baby Boomers are universal. It takes little introspection to realize, post-World War development carried specific values and influences in regard to mores, goals and manners of thinking. A World War is certain to effect a generation.

This is the first of generation-type articles. Come back to read more or purchase the book. While you are there, write a review!

Dr. Joyce Knudsen, Ph.D. www.drjoyceknudsen.com [email protected]