Retiring the Generation Gap: How Employees Young and Old Can Find Common Ground

Before You Proceed . . .

This book presents ten principles. But in the course of our research,

we also discovered an underlying theme that informs each and

every principle we’ll present. This theme doesn’t spring from any

individual piece of data we collected; rather, it becomes clear when

you look at the pattern of results as a whole. It is the most parsi-

monious explanation for the generational conflict we hear people

talk about and see at work. We alluded to it earlier; here we’ll de-

scribe it so that you can identify it more clearly when reading

through the principles:

Most intergenerational conflict shares

a common point of origin: the issue of

clout—who has it, who wants it.

As we were doing our research, it became clear that fundamen-

tally, generational conflict and comments about unacceptable be-

havior on the part of another generation often stem from a particular

group’s notion that it gets to make the rules and that the other group

has to follow these rules. If the rules are being challenged, so too is

the superior position and stature of the people who believe they get

to make the rules that others then have to follow.

Our research revealed that in the U.S. workplace, older peo-

ple generally think they should get to make the rules, and they

think that the younger people should follow their rules. No sur-

prises there. For example, people often complain about how some

younger person wears casual clothes to work. The criticism is that

the clothes are “inappropriate” or “unprofessional.” In whose opin-

ion? Obviously in the opinion of the people who are doing the crit-

icizing. Have you ever noticed people seldom talk about how odd

the workplace behavior of the older generation is in comparison

with the younger generation? What would happen if masses of

people in their 50s wore jeans and T-shirts to work? Would it sud-

denly become acceptable, or would the people in their 20s start

complaining about the “unprofessional” attire? It is possible, but

it isn’t likely. Though younger people have opinions about other

generations and make negative comments about older people, the

behavior the older generation accepts is considered the standard.

So younger people’s comments (in the example above) about the

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older people’s “unprofessional” attire would be seen as illegitimate

griping and a grab for control rather than as legitimate complaints

about inappropriate workplace behavior.

In another example, when does conflict between parent and

child stop being attributed to typical disagreements that any peo-

ple have when living in close quarters, and start being attributed

to a generation gap? The gap appears when the children (typically

teenagers) begin to see themselves as having opinions that are dif-

ferent from those of their parents but no less valid just because

they are younger. In essence, the generation gap appears when the

younger people stop accepting everything the older group tells

them and starts believing that their own opinions, perspectives,

and attitudes have validity equal to those of their elders. The result

of this belief is that the generation gap exists only when the

younger generation ceases to follow the rules set down by the older

generation. As long as the younger generation complies, no gap

exists.

But (theoretically) everyone in the workplace is an adult who

is being paid to do a job and is therefore equal except for posi-

tional authority assigned by the organization (that is, his or her

level in the organization). But, as in Orwell’s Animal Farm, some

people believe they are more equal than others, and they use what

attributes they have (for example, age, political acumen, organi-

zational tenure) to increase their clout within the organization. As

organizations increasingly promote younger people over older peo-

ple (thus increasing the positional power of the younger people),

older people naturally work to maintain the balance of power—in

their favor—by using their greater age and experience. One way

they do this is to comment negatively about the bad behavior of

younger people (thus making specific individuals look bad by as-

sociation). Another way they do this is to use the behavior of their

own generation as the model for appropriate behavior (thus mak-

ing themselves look good by association).

People of the older generation also maintain their clout by em-

phasizing the value of their experience. Experience is perceived

both by people and by organizations as valuable because it is be-

lieved to be synonymous with knowledge. But it isn’t. Now, don’t mis-

understand us—we think experience is critically important. We also

think that on average, people with more experience (older people)

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