An Inner Journey of Ahimsa — 30 Mar 2022

A client made an offhand comment today about how millennials are not as engaged or committed as his generation was at work, and how he prefers not to hire them, as a result. While my borderline millennial ears perked up at that for more reasons than one, it became a segue into a conversation around the violent thoughts and emotions we hold for people based on demographic factors.

We worked through a process of?non-violent communication?to induce curiosity around my client’s needs from his work team, as well that those of the millennials he had an opinion around. Eventually, he came to a space of appreciating how the state of the world as they were growing up has shaped the choices of millennials, and how one can still dialogue through diverse world views and still collaborate.

The danger in slotting millennials (or for that matter, any other generation) is that they get labelled and generalised as a ‘problem’ that needs to be tackled. Whether it is the Baby Boomers or Gen Z, each generation is a product of their environment. It so happens that millennials grew up through a time where the world engaged with disruptive technology, a high level of mobility, socio-political instability and the emergence of social media. These factors are bound to impact the lifestyle of everyone around, not just a particular generation. Growing up in a time when weapons technology is at its deadliest and there is no promise of a safe future, triggers a high need for meaning and amassing experiences, instead of committing to an institution that may not return the favour.

Acknowledging collective trauma of each generation becomes a critical factor in sustaining social cohesion.

· What assumptions do you hold about generations other than your own?

· How do we foster intergenerational dialogues in various spaces, social and professional?

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