I spent some time in conversation this week with a lovely person from an older generation. This means that the gal was in her nineties as I am racking up birthday digits more rapidly than I’d care to admit! The visit with this fine woman put me in mind of the vast differences between our generations in the way we think and the way we communicate. My thoughts on this topic moved me to reflect and weight-in on how we might share knowledge and values across these chasms.
Here is a list of generations beginning with that of my friend: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen X’ers, Millennials and Gen Z’ers. These groups each possess knowledge that is of benefit to the other groups. I know I have been inspired and propelled by the values, attitudes and approaches taken by all of the groups listed. Yet, the knowledge transfer is seemingly slower the further apart the generations are. I think we need to find a way to better connect to each other, because as much as it is a gift to spend time with an older individual, it should be the same with a younger person. After all, isn’t there something to learn from every conversation, and isn’t our foresight borne out of such dialogue?
Learning from each other is what will bring about change in our world. Cross-generational knowledge is the synergy that will power the change in the long run.