Neil Howe at Lifecourse.com has created a great new tool for researching generation cycles in American Leadership. I created a short screencast showing how to use the the new “American Leadership Database“. You can examine trends in all sorts of characteristics of American politics and can parse it out by region, party, dates, etc..
Fun for politicos, generation geeks and researchers. Play around with it a bit!
Neil Howe was heavily quoted in this Newsweek article on the meaning of 9-11 to Millennial (born 1982-2004) who were 10 at the time of the attacks. The video is below, but the article is also worth a read.
This post from Matt over at TheWyze is interesting:
He does seem to confuse the attitude of Boomer (born 1943-1960) with [X], since Boomers were the ones protesting for peace for so many years. Gen X didn’t protest for (or against) anything.
But there is another aspect to the green attitude of Millennial (born 1982-2004) which is their tendency towards group think. Millennials are excellent at teamwork and collectivism, but they are also subject to over-simplifying problems. In this way they are very similar to the G.I. (born 1901-1924) who overcame the Axis in WWII. That generation also had a severe case of group think which became more obvious after the war when they put together the shallow “American Dream” which their Boomer kids later rebelled against.
I believe “green” will be held by the Millennials (aka Gen Y) in the same way as the American Dream was held by the GI’s: as a shallow ideal that their kids will eventually rebel against. For example, I can see that 30 years from now everyone will have a “carbon counter” on their phone, house, whatever, and they will measure their status by the number on that device. But, as their kids will probably point out, they won’t be any more connected to mother nature. And so the cycle continues.
This recent article about a Volvo experiment with “CO2 pedometers” is a forerunner to this concept. I picture CO2 emission counters being used in daily life, either on a cell phone or attached to your house/car/children. Your CO2 count will be a measure of your social conscience just like a well-manicured lawn was back in the 1950’s. But, just like those 50’s ideals, it will be a thin veneer that will eventually be challenged by the next Prophet generation (the kids of the Millennials). I can hear them saying, “Okay, Mom, your carbon count is tiny but where is your connection to Mother Earth? When is the last time you actually rolled in the dirt?”). The more things change…
Douglas Coupland, the author that coined the name for our generation,[X], has a new book coming out in September, Generation A. I also noticed that he is on Twitter (how very Gen X of him) and has a Youtube channel that pokes fun in a typical anti-corporate style:
I have to say I don’t mind a guy like Douglas representing the generation. Don’t mind at all.
I just finished reading Slackonomics, by Lisa Chamberlain, and I highly recommend it.
Chamberlain manages to pack a lot into this small format, 188 page book about the role of [X] in modern society. The style is an easy read and most chapter contain interviews with iconic Gen X’ers. Rather than focusing on pop-culture references, Chamberlain looks at the social and economic environment that Generation X now inhabits and what they are doing about it.
Chamberlain is an excellent writer, with the sort of dry wit that most Gen X’ers appreciate. The chapters weave a subtle narrative of how our generation is coping with the challenging times we face today and why our pragmatic attitude is so important. I highly recommend the book for anyone trying to understand Generation X and gain an appreciation for what we have to offer.
As regular readers know, I am a big fan of Neil Howe and William Strauss‘ generational research. They literally wrote the book on Generations, and I have found their theories very valuable. Enough so that I have helped Neil Howe in getting a blog started which we just launched a few weeks ago. You can see Neil’s latests posts at http://blog.lifecourse.com. I proud to be the administrator and editor for the blog. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line.
Generation X (born 1961-1981) lost another icon today when Baby Boomer (born 1943-1960) John Hughes died. Hughes wrote and directed many movies that were influential to my generation, from “The Breakfast Club” to “Home Alone”. Although he was a Boomer (born in 1950) he had his pulse on the teen angst that surrounded him in the 80’s and 90’s. He made it onto my “Top 10 Gen X Movies” lists (twice on both!) and most of us have seen almost every movie he directed:
RIP John Hughes, February 1950 – August 2009
A few years ago I read Alain de Botton‘s “Status Anxiety“. I found de Botton’s writing to be fascinating, but difficult. He is a well-educated Swiss Gen X’er (born 1961-1981) and many of his references were to literature I was not familiar with. Even so, it was clear that he had thought long and hard about the nature of status in our society, and he had done so from a uniquely Gen X viewpoint.
I just came upon this wonderful talk that Alain gave at TED this year:
I particularly like his take at the very end of the talk about what makes a good father. He talks about the need for fathers (and father/heroic figures) in society to be “tough but kind”. His description fits with the view of many Gen X fathers I know: they don’t want the permissiveness of their parent’s generation (Silents, born 1924-1942 and Boomers, born 1943-1960), but also want to avoid the strict disciplinarian attitude of earlier generations. Is this possible? I don’t know, but that seems to be the ideal that Generation X strives for.
de Botton’s take on the nature of success bears a strong resemblance to that of another Gen X TEDster: Elizabeth Gilbert. Her talk about the nature of creativity contained many similar ideas about where success is truly derived. I see a Gen X philosophy being discussed more regularly, with a much more balanced and positive take now that we are reaching middle age. Perhaps it is time for older generations (Boomers in particular) to listen to what the individualistic Gen X’ers have to say about the direction of society. Just because we are cynical does not mean we don’t have any ideals.
Baby Boomers (born 1943-1960) are rather famous for their outspoken and contreversial manner. In their youth they expressed a great deal of anger at “The Man” (aka their GI Generation parents) and used that anger to stop the Vietnam War and break down the shallow society that surrounded them. Even as a Gen X’er (born 1961-1981) I have respect and admiration for the changes that they instigated (I am not really a fan of the idealized American Dream) but times have changed, and I wonder if Boomers are ready to adapt.
I came upon a site that was truly troubling: “Angriest Generation” which has a call to action for the Baby Boomers to “Get Angry”. The author is looking for stories about what angers Boomers and why we need to listen to them rage about it. My response: sorry Boomers, you had your chance at protest, and now it is time to grow up and help the younger generations put this society back together. Enough of the “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” already. If Boomers really want to be productive, they should follow the advice of Neil Howe and William Strausss from their book “The Fourth Turning“:
“The continued maturation of Boomers is vital for the Crisis to end in triumph. These one-time worshipers of youth must relinquish it entirely before they can demand from Millennials the civic virtue they themselves did not display during the Awakening.”
[See Howe and Strauss’ full script for Boomers]
So we don’t need anymore anger or outrage from Boomers, we need forbearance and wisdom. If you are a Boomer and you are ready to put your idealistic rhertoric aside, we need you in leadership. But if not, then it is time to let Generation X lead the way. In fact, an article from the Harvard Business Review Blogs a few days ago, makes this point very well:
Why Generation X Has the Leaders We Need Now
We already have a Gen X’er in the White House. Time for other Gen X’ers to step up and heed the call of pragmatic leadership at all levels. And Boomers we need your help! Just don’t think we are going to be interested in hearing what you are angry about, or that it will help solve the monumental problems our world is facing today.
The world’s oldest man, Henry Allingham, died on Saturday in a nursing home. He was born in 1896, making him a member of the “Lost Generation” (born 1883-1900) that fought in WWI. The Lost Generation is similar in character Generation X (born 1961-1981) in that they were/are individualistic, pragmatic and tough. For example, Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown had this to say about Henry:
“He was a tremendous character, one of the last representatives of a generation of tremendous characters.”
This stands in stark contrast to what people would say about the generation following the Lost: the GI Generation (born 1901-1924) who are referred to as being heroes rather than “characters”. The GI’s are known as “The Greatest Generation” while the Lost Generation were the wild youth of the “Roaring 20’s” and although many fought in WWII, they were often the grizzled leaders (think Tom Hanks’ character in “Saving Private Ryan”) rather than the noble young warriors.
This bears a strong resemblance to today’s Generation X. We certainly are not looked up to as heroes and are often accused of being the cause of many of our current social ills. But I believe our generation will be instrumental in building a new foundation for our society. Although Millennials (born 1982-200?) will be fighting on the front lines and get most of the glory, Generation X’ers will be doing the dirty work and heavy lifting of change in our society.
I also think it’s likely that we will eventually get a grudging respect, as Henry and his generation now have. Fifty years from now we will be remembered as the tough elders who were willing to take the worst of these troubled times on the chin. We will be remembered as “characters”, which is fine with me.
For more on how the cycle of generations repeats, see the “Start Here” section of my blog.