Boomers

Let’s go back one last time to our foundational understanding of who they are. Boomers have always had a strong desire to change the world for the better. They have been at the top of our companies for several years now, and they are now trying to implement their change-the-world ideas. Boomers are a hardworking bunch who sacrificed health and home for their careers.

They also really understand doing what it takes when it’s necessary, even if it’s hard and takes a long time. And they do expect to be rewarded for these long hours and ultimate execution. They want to be paid a lot of money. They want a big title, a big house, a nice car, and of course eternal youth. Well, you can’t have everything, but Boomers have certainly tried to get everything. Indulgent, Boomers are indulgent—remember they are the ones who brought in the hippie culture, free flowing with sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Remember, we’re not judgin, we’re just sayin. So here’s the high level:

•   What are they best at?

–   idealism

–   applying historic precedent to current situations

–   creating structure and process

–   building on consensus

–   execution

•   What gets them going?

–   money

–   materials gain

–   acknowledgment

And, how can we use this information to drive revenue? Well, there’s no question that the Boomers are currently at the helm of most major corporations today, so they already are driving revenue, but we can still think of a few ways to build on their strengths. For starters, we would take the idealistic Boomers and have them lead some teams of Gen Xers and Gen Yers to teach them how to work together and to prepare them to move into leadership positions. We would ask the Boomers to mentor each generation and to act as an advocate and a role model to teach them how to get through some of the generational difficulties.

We would ask the Boomers to identify the most serious problems and opportunities that the organization faces and package them into business problems, which we would use as work and stretch assignments for Gen X and Gen Y. We would probably have to do a little bit of curtain-pulling to keep the Boomers out of the actual problem-solving part.

We would also ask the Boomers to analyze the work that Gen X and Gen Y are putting out and provide feedback and poke holes in the solutions in a classroom-type setup for active engagement across the generations. Then we would present these projects with Boomer feedback as case studies to be discussed, just as physicians meet to study and analyze cases to continually increase quality and success ratios.

We would want the Boomers to ensure that processes and structures were in place throughout the organization to ensure performance metrics were set and measured both organizationally and individually for the employees. As long as they were at it, we would have them create the structure to get the knowledge in their head passed down to the following generations. This one would take time, because we would first have to educate the Boomers on why this needs to happen and insist on transparency and knowledge sharing. Because they want to keep their seats, this is easier said than done, but it is possible. They’re not mean. They’re just comfortable.

Finally, we would reward Boomers with legacy opportunities—that is to say ways to make sure that their legacy was carried for another generation. For example, we may name the action learning program the John Doe Development Institute. There are only so many of these, but we can be creative with other things too like a Wall of Fame or paying for a room at the homeless shelter that has their name on it. The opportunities are endless if we just get creative.

We know you may have great ideas and different ways to build on the generational strengths, too, and we would love to hear them. We invite you to share them on our forum at www.decadesofdifferences.com. All of us working together, sharing our experiences, and collaborating on solutions will raise the collective whole and allow us to be successful much easier than trying to do it by ourselves.

Notes

1.   Wooldridge, Adrian. “The Battle for Brainpower.” The Economist. 5 Oct. 2006. Web. http://www.economist.com.

2.   Collins, James C. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap—and Others Don’t. New York: HarperBusiness, 2001. Print.