Last year at a business management workshop Betsy Charles, DVM, had an argument with another —veterinarian. The conflict became increasingly heated and strong recriminations flew. Initially, each side could not see the viewpoint of the other. Was thedisagreement about politics? Religion? Race? No. It was about age. With as many as four generations now laboring together in the American workplace, iconic age gaps are producing unanticipated friction. The War Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation Xers,and the Millennial have identities forged by different childhood circumstances. Be they the scrappy, steadfast group born before and during World War II; or the rebel-turned-yuppies who came of age in the 60s and 70s; or the tribe reared with Cabbage Patch dolls in toe, who sprouted into maturity in the 90s; or the postmodernists who comprise the first wave of adults in the new century, each bring different values to work.
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