The Generation Cocktail

This week I’m working on a piece for a client who specializes in Millennials and the workplace. Filled with information about generation clashes, an analogy popped into my head (I love analogies), one that I feel compelled to share today, now; isn’t that so Gen Z?  And it’s fun to think about entertaining analogies with Summer 2014 upon us.

Today the workplace is like a delicious, complex cocktail I call the Generation Cocktail.  The workplace, like a cocktail, features a tantalizing menu of intense ingredients that may clash, but when shaken and sipped properly, the Generation Cocktail can go down very smoothly.  First, what’s each ingredient all about? Second, how can we make each ingredient flexible and adaptable?  

For the record, I rarely drink cocktails – I’m an age-defending Gen X.  But this is a digestible metaphor for what it’s like working with 4 very different generations:  Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and now Gen Z. Millenials like very complex elaborate cocktails with many unique ingredients, now that’s no surprise!