Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/343790
SOLUTIONS www.PowersportsBusiness.com Powersports Business • July 13, 2014 • 43 This room holds eight people, two work- benches and 70 servers. It's small, but an immense amount of work gets done here, including this little article. Jim is the youngest at 26. Ian is 36, and Aaron, John, Dave and Scott are in their 40s. JR is 55, and in a couple months I will slide in at 70. So, one room, a bunch of equipment, and three generations of smart people ranging from 26 to 70, all trying to work together. Jim, at 26, could conceivably be working with his father and his grandfather. Scary, huh? Does this sound familiar? Look around you. You see the same three generations in your store all trying to work together. You see them walk- ing into your store and looking at your products. And some- times ideas, words and references you use just don't work across the invisible boundaries of time and experience that lie between you. In a meeting I refer to a scheme that has just been discovered, saying "Well, the jig is up." I get gasps around the table as the younger men think I have just spoken a racial slur. Jim refers to something named "Mackl- emore." I think it is a fish. I mention a number I play on the piano as coming from "The Gay Nineties." I just get funny looks. Historians William Strauss and Neil Howe have spent a lot of time studying the 20 gen- erations that have lived in this country begin- ning in the year 1584. Their take on our little work group, beginning with the youngest, would be as follows: GENERATION Y ("MILLENNIALS," BORN 1982–2002) Jim's generation is the most tech-connected generation in history. They have been raised in a computer world and find no surprises in new technology. That is the only world they have known, one where marvels are unveiled almost daily. They prefer texting to calling, and webinars over classrooms. They priori- tize family above work. They are not afraid to question authority. This group is least likely of all generations to believe in "The American Dream." They are less likely to seek thrills or go to social excess, and they work hard to hold on to their jobs in face of heavy competition. They see technol- ogy as their key to the future. Their genera- tion is bigger than the Baby Boomers, and more influential. In the workplace: Their time is worth more than money. They may question you about purpose or method and will need solid answers. They will wel- come new challenges that are meaningful and goals that are measureable. Women Millenni- als do not see gender bias as an issue. Persons of note include: Leann Rimes, LeBron James, Michael Phelps, Lindsay Lohan, Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen, Ben Roethlisberger, Ashlee Simpson, Hilary Duff and MACKLEMORE (I find he's a rapper, not a fish). GENERATION X (BORN 1961–1981) Members of Generation X are largely in their 40s and early 50s. On the whole, they are more ethnically diverse and better educated than the Baby Boomers who came before them. More than 60 percent of Generation X attended college. They are the original "latch- key kids." Many of them concluded early that they were on their own. While still young, they heard much of body counts, riot, protests and assassinations. They saw a U.S. president resign. They saw gas lines. They saw the Challenger explode. With this experience, Generation X has become the most independent thinking and inner-directed group of the three genera- tions under discussion here. They are also good parents, trying to make up for the dif- ficult things they themselves went through as children. In the workplace: Generation X dislikes authority and prefers to have responsibility and flexibility in their work. They will be loyal to a person, but not to a com- pany. They respect productivity over tenure. Persons of note include: George Clooney, Ann Coulter, Barack Obama, Meg Ryan, Steve Young, Garth Macklemore and relating to all generations DOLLARS & SENSE HAL ETHINGTON See Ethington, Page 44