“Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.”
— George Orwell
It seems to be a time-honored tradition that, as one ages, one casts a disapproving eye towards younger generations.
A visit to the GooglePlex delivers a boatload of attributes:
| Generation Alpha (born 2012-2024) | Overdependent on technology, lack face-to-face communication skills, short attention span. |
| Generation Z (born 1997-2012) | Always on devices, no interpersonal skills, spoiled, unmotivated/lazy, constantly on social media, obsessed with popularity. |
| Generation Y/Millennials (born 1981-1996) | Entitled narcissists, lazy, self-centered, demanding, job-hoppers, hypersensitive, set unrealistic expectations, smugly tech-savvy. |
| Generation X (born 1965-1980) | Skeptical, cynical, disaffected, overly independent, poor team members. |
| Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) | Out of touch, privileged, self-righteous, materialistic, resistant to change. |
There’s nothing new about finding fault with other generations. Another dip into Lake Google produces these examples through the years:
1993: “What really distinguishes this generation from those before it is that it’s the first generation in American history to live so well and complain so bitterly about it.”
1951: “Many young people are so pampered nowadays.”
1925: “We defy anyone who goes about with his eyes open to deny that there is, as never before, an attitude on the part of young folk which is best described as grossly thoughtless, rude, and utterly selfish.”
1853: “So full of self-conceit and admiration of their own dear self, as to have but little to spare for anyone else.”
1771: “Today’s youth are no more than effeminate, self-admiring, emaciated fribbles”.
1624: “Youth were never more savagely saucy. The ancient are scorned, the honorable are condemned.”
Not convinced? Here are a couple of history’s greatest philosophers weighing in on the problem with ‘the kids today’:
“They think they know everything and are always quite sure about it.
The young are permanently in a state resembling intoxication.”
— Aristotle (circa 350 B.C.E.)
“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders, and love chatter in place of exercise.”
— Socrates (circa 410 B.C.E.)
I have three takeaways from all of this:
- Much of this reflects the common human tendency to lump people together rather arbitrarily (how were the years defining each Generation decided upon?), and judge those lumps based on assumptions, prejudices, and their own preferences. At best, you end up with generational generalities.
- I’m also certain that my father would have used many of the same words to describe me at various times in my life.
- As is so often the case, Mark Twain nailed it:
“History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme”
— Mark Twain
Ronn Lehmann advises organizations and leaders on the human factors that determine their culture. Lehmann developed the Cultural Audit Process, which is designed to provide an outside perspective of an organization’s culture: what’s important, what’s rewarded and punished, what the rules are, and how people “show up.”
Success Authorities’ book, “Conversations for Clarity: Critical Questions Leaders Must Ask Themselves” is available now at Amazon!
