Random Forays | Narrowing the generational chasm
A CEO who’s come through the ropes and has spent a couple of decades on the treadmill, thinks that he knows it all; he could be loath towards listening to any suggestions from his younger team mates, but he must do exactly that
Every successive human generation seems aggrieved by its lot in this world. Comparisons with OGs entail smirks whereas comparisons with ‘Gen Zee’ result in raised eyebrows. An integral aspect of the human drama is the inter-generational chasm of misunderstandings which refuses to abate.
My generation has transitioned from basic landlines to ultra smart watches, from rickety bus rides to high speed jet setting, from occasional soaps to a torrent of reels and from caste-based decision making to “nothing matters any more”.
The newest human inhabitants of this planet are growing up in an era of ultra connectivity and AI enabled chaos. Their happiness index depends on their ability to aspire for aboveness and to not succumb to 24x7 screen time living. Conversations with fellow human beings might soon be extinct if everything is to become fully automated, including us!
The present scenario presents us with, perhaps, the last chance to mend pathways with the preceding and succeeding generations. The only way in which these generational gulfs can be bridged is through patient communication. That’s where the battle is being lost. Loneliness and moroseness emanate from a lack of conversation and a dearth of sharing.
During earlier times, in the absence of gadgetry, people would talk much more. Expressing ourselves in words through voice is a far more therapeutic measure than texting. Yet, even phone calls have reduced and have been replaced by texts, nay, by emojis.
A publication titled “Indian Business Case Studies” by Varsha Parab, Ramesh Mahadik and Diksha Tripathi, states this: “The dynamics of the workplace have changed with the evolution of technology and the change in generations has also impacted the organisational fabric. Organisations today comprise three distinct generations with different mindsets, aspirations, and ethos.”
Bosses and their youngest colleagues often suffer from a sheer lack of understanding. A CEO who’s come through the ropes and has spent a couple of decades on the treadmill, thinks that he knows it all. He could be loath towards listening to any suggestions from his younger team mates, but he must do exactly that. The youth of today are original thinkers, innovative to the core. They are adventurous in life as well as in ideation.
Rishabh Pant, the swashbuckling wicket-keeper batsman, is a prime example. By playing with a devil-may-care attitude, he has managed to astonish the traditionalists. The amount of risk that he essays at the crease has TV viewers and the dressing room on tenterhooks. Yet he gets away with seemingly foolhardy shots. There is certainly a method to his madness, and his skills are clearly from another planet. Commentators are typically from past generations and their tone while describing Pant’s stroke-play indicates the sheer shock that they must feel within. The fact that Pant is one of the world’s most outrageously successful batters of this era should make us realise that his formula for success has its strong points.
The middle generation, if one can call it that, is perhaps eschewing its responsibility towards both the younger and the older age groups. By not finding time to simply sit and chat (in the old way) with either lot, we are creating a large gap fuelled by under-communication.
The elderly generation is the one which feels the pinch more. All they want is for someone to listen to their old stories and reminiscences. Do we have the time? Does the jet set millennial have the time? Who is going to listen to the tales of yore, oft repeated, unless the listener has a patient, empathetic and loving attitude? The senior most citizens of this era are in solitude simply because everyone else is (seemingly) just too busy to spend time with them.
Just as it would be extremely frivolous to label the gen zee as reckless and withdrawn, it is entirely unfair to label the older denizens as has-beens. These misnomers have painfully widened the chasm. It is only when the all powerful middle-aged generation finds itself knocking at the doors of the retirement that it begins to realise its folly.
There’s still time to communicate more, to indulge more and to empathise more with those who are not of the same vintage. Inter-generational communication needs to be significantly enhanced!
vivek.atray@gmail.com