I know I said I was going camping, but I had this one thought about Gen Y...

As I was lurking around the Brazen Careerist site today, I asked myself how come we Gen Xers haven't developed our own "blog community" like the Ys at Brazen. Then I realized the answer - it's about team work versus individual work.

A lot has been written about how Gen Y likes to work in teams, because they've been working in teams since elementary school - team book reports, team volunteering projects, field hockey team.

Xers, on the other hand, grew up with a different experience. In our school experience, your work was your work - nobody else's. You were on your own. There was one valedictorian, one winner, one capitan, one editor-in-chief.

I'm not debating which is better or worse. I'm just saying Ys blog as a group and Xers don't. That's why Xers won't have a blog community. Even though we say we want one, we really don't. If we did, it would be out there.

Then why do so many of lurk on the Brazen site? I think it's because we're self-study folks. We're interested in the Y perspective. So we're really not going there to be part of the group - we're going there for the blogs. It's an easy place to find a lot of Gen Y blogs at one.

Okay, this time I really am off to go camping.

Gen Xer discovers relaxation and beer in the woods

I will be heading up north soon, however, I didn't want to leave my loyal readers hanging. If you follow my Twitter feed, you probably know I've recently seen White Snake in concert and I'm now in love with David Coverdale (sorry Jeff).

So I figured I'd do a poll. Who's your favorite front man?

Is the generational conversation over?

There's an interesting conversation going on over at RenegadeHR as to whether we should care about whether or not we have a multi-generational workforce. The writer, a Gen Y, says it's not generations but work preferences that matter.

Although I think he's got some valid points - and he's right that generalizations are dangerous - I disagree that your generational footprint doesn't matter.

I think there are a lot of Gen Xers specifically who can vouch for me. We entered a workforce in the 1990s that was dominated by Boomers. And Boomers like process. So there was always a "right way" and a "wrong way" to do things - and there was no handbook for the Xers. So we did what we always do - start "doing" and learn as we go. And that caused quite a bit of conflict.

The Boomers process orientation came from their formative cohort experiences - they read Dick and Jane (everyone has a role and nobody crosses into other's roles), they went to schools that were overcrowded (teachers needed strict order to avoid adolescent chaos), and they went to college when all the rules were changing (and yet there were still rules).

The Gen Xers "learn as we go" orientation came from their formative cohort experiences - watching Sesame Street (learn by playing), playing video games (who ever read the directions to Pac Man?), and going to school during a time when things weren't so strict (my Boomer mom took handwriting class - during my high school experience, content was important - not penmanship.)

I can see why Gen Ys would be annoyed with new labels being applied to them. Xers hated it too. And Ys aren't as different from Xers as Xers were than Boomers in the 90s. It's all about living through technological change as a kid. The Boomers were grown up by the time technological change started really revving up. But although the technology may have been different between the X and Y youth - the change was the same.

So the Y's are entering a workforce that's not all that foreign to them - yet they're being treated like foreigners. But that doesn't mean their helicopter parents, over-scheduled childhoods, and living through 9/11 as children doesn't impact their adult behaviors.

So what do you think?

Sometimes I want to be a reality TV star

Last night I watched the finale of my new favorite show.

I've developed a small obsession with The Real Housewives of New Jersey. In fact, I kind of want to be a real housewife of New Jersey.

I find this fetish of my a little odd considering I am a feminist of the Susan Faludi variety, I am conflict-avoidant, and I typically don't like reality TV (the last reality TV show I had an interest in was the Real World season 3. Poor Pedro.)

So why the obssession with TRHJN? I think it's the over-the-top Gen X drama. Most Gen Y reality TV consists of young honeys running around with their chi chis hanging out and fighting over some guy. But this show was part family loyalty, part standing up to the mean girl, part wearing some obnoxiously large bling bling, and part big hair.

In a way, it's bizarro Gen X world.

Do Xers seem younger than they are?

I had a discussion recently in which the Boomers I was talking with didn’t see Xers as being “old enough” to be in executive management positions. Yet the oldest Xers turn 44 this year – and the youngest are turning 30.

Do you think there is an assumption that Xers are younger than we really are? Or do we act – or look – younger than we are? I’m interested in your opinions on this one.

Boomers, legacies and bad headlines

Recently a comment on this blog by JenX67 got me thinking about the Boomer-Xer riff that’s been going on forever. You see, I’ve really lightened up on the Boomers over the last year, mostly because I work with a bunch of them that have been really cool to me. And they do the things I think most Xers want from their Boomer colleagues like teach you stuff and then encourage you to take things to the next level and then don’t get in your way.

I think there are some Boomers who have this idea that Xers are waiting for them to die so that the Xers can take over. Literally, that’s the phrase I’ve heard used - “waiting for us to die.” But the thing is, I don’t think most Xers want what Boomers have. I think Xers would like to keep what Boomers got right (like making it okay for professional women to do something other than be a teacher, secretary, or nurse) – but then dump the stuff they screwed up.

I read this article about writer Matt Bai who decided not to write a book about President Obama so that he could write a book about what the Boomers didn’t get right in politics. In the interview, Bai talks about Gary Hart and how he was a creative thinker, but he was flawed and therefore rejected by the Boomer establishment (we also saw this with Bill Clinton). Bai also said he wanted to write this book for Xers and future generations so that these problems could be addressed.

But the article was obviously edited by a Boomer with the “waiting for us to die” philosophy. The headline was “Bai to Boo Boomers in New Book.” I’m assuming that’s because if a Gen X writes a critical analysis of the Boomer legacy, it would mean he’s booing the Boomers. Whatever.

So it makes sense to me that a lot of my fellow Xers are fed up with this kind of thing. But I ask you to look for that Boomer in your life who doesn’t fall into the Boomer stereotype – because it will be those people who build the bridges to younger generations. It’s those people who realize that although we are not waiting around for them to die, they will eventually die. And the impact they have on the future begins with the impact they have on the Xers.

Mom & me...

Last night my mom was over and a we were watching television. A commercial came on. As I watched it, I started laughing uncontrollably.

Mom didn't get it.

Since I have DVR going, I rewinded it.

Mom still didn't get it.

After the third time, I had to just explain it to her.

Generational issue? Probably not. But since she told me not to write about it on my blog...