The failure of generations to capture the skills and knowledge of our elders.

In a couple of previous articles, I have developed a theme of getting old and how, in business (and probably in life in general), we are awful at talking with our elders and learning from their experiences of life and work that they have done. Of course, within work teams, we are always eager to please our bosses and we value their feedback on specific issues relating to particular client instructions, but that’s not the same as having constant access to their expertise and insights.  

Indeed, assuming (and praying) that I have a long life, I have just entered the final quartile of my time on this planet and I’m aware that my view of the world and the way that I go about doing business, as one of the baby boomer generation, is very different to the younger generations that are following in my wake. My world was, and is, predicated on face-to-face networks and personal interactions. That is not the motivation of millennials and gen Z in the workplace today.  

Social media and the mirage of connection

One of the biggest changes in the past 10 to 20 years has been the boom in social media via a range of platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, to name a few. Success on these platforms is judged by the number of followers and connections you have. 

Yet there is an ironic disconnect in social media and that is, for the majority of users, you have no connections at all. People don’t really connect via these platforms. Research has shown that most social connections on the internet don’t translate into meetings in person and most followers never comment or interact with the poster of some erudite comment or observation. So connectivity in the virtual world is an illusion.