Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z: Do You Relate? (2 of 2)

Joe Luther  
Welcome to another episode of Friends in wonder, a place where we invite you to explore meaningful topics without judgment or limits, brought to you by two lifelong friends sharing their insights. While wondering, how can this help? I'm Joe Luther. 

Vince Kern  
And I'm Vince Kern, 

Joe Luther  
and we've got great topics lined up for you each week. So be sure to subscribe, like and even share with your friends. Now let's wander and wander together. Hey, Vince, episode two of our generational series of two pretty pumped up to get going on this topic.

Vince Kern  
Yeah, I've been waiting for it all week, we've got such good feedback from people out in the field that, you know, after we finished with week one, I just wanted to jump right back into week two and share some of our conclusions, some more insight. And that's what we're going to do today.

Joe Luther  
Yeah, I'm excited to talk about all the feedback, we got to because it was kind of, you know, kind of pumped me up, because it seems like people found this topic very engaging. And I think what we should do is just get into these interviews again, and and then start discussing some of our conclusions and maybe ask some questions about, you know, the content of what we're hearing,

Vince Kern  
right. And before we do that, if you didn't hear the first episode, you'll want to go back and listen to it, we interviewed about 60 to 70 people across 21 tents at a U of M tailgating party, and people had a lot to say, and that's what we want to bring back in, talk about it, share it with you and see what you think.

Joe Luther  
Yeah, and last week, we concentrated on the hate Boomer or the you know, do you ever call somebody a boomer kind of topic, and, and that was a lot of fun. But this week, we're gonna get into something a little different. And it really kind of brings out a strong response from the people we talked to. Yeah, last

Vince Kern  
week, we, we heard a lot about respect for other generations. And we delved into whether people identified themselves as a particular generation. And we had a lot of sub topics from them. So today's focus is going to be a little, little more directed on on the work ethic that many, many people talked about. And I think we can jump right in there a yeah, let's,

Joe Luther  
let's have a listen. 

Vince Kern  
What were the core core values of your grandfather? You're referring to?

Unknown Speaker  
Hard work? Family? Being an honest, good person. That was that was everything.

Vince Kern  
So what do you think is what is the biggest thing that has changed that?

Unknown Speaker  
I think, the 80s, we started to transition into the me generation. And I think we kind of got more selfish, we're getting, we're in the, we're at like the height of our civilization. And I think we're starting to crest because we've accomplished so much so fast. And I think it's going the other way, you don't have to work as hard as you used to have to, to have everything anymore. We have everything you could ever want. And I think it's made can make people kind of lazy.

Joe Luther  
And then boomers think the common criticism of the younger generation is they don't know how to work.

Unknown Speaker  
Yeah, they know that's true. I know a lot of people that are lazy, you know, me personally, I have my own business. So you know, I try not to be but I know a lot of people are. What do you do? I landscape? Landscape. Yes, sir.

Vince Kern  
So what are some of the biggest misconceptions about your generation?

Unknown Speaker  
Oh, I think we're in between. So I think there's there's a thought of, we don't work as hard as generation. The Boomers, but we're in between because generation, the millennials. Don't do shit. Yeah,

Joe Luther  
yes. And there's Generation Z, which are the college kids today, because I hear Millennials now crabbing about them. grounds. Okay. So

Unknown Speaker  
I don't know, we're kind of in a flux, aren't we our group?

Unknown Speaker  
No, we don't we don't want to be millennials.

Unknown Speaker  
I know. But no, we were just like, there's so much disrespect to younger group, which I totally agree with. Because I know for a fact they don't want to work and

Unknown Speaker  
paid and they want to sit at home and work for four hours a week. And we actually still go in and work 40

Unknown Speaker  
hours. I have the mentality of working 5060 hours a week and it's easy for me to do that. What

Vince Kern  
generation do you identify as Gen X Gen X? Okay and 80 1980 So what do you think some of the perceptions of your generation are? true not true.

Unknown Speaker  
perceptions were the hardest working people out there until the next generation came up right.

Vince Kern  
What about boomers, doo doo doo are workers what are what are your perceptions of of boomers being so We're close to them. And what do you think the best and worst traits of boomers are?

Unknown Speaker  
The best trait is that they know how to work. They want to stay, they make their work, middle class more of a middle class to work. And they show that they that's the only way it's going to be. But these new boomers are the new generations, while everything handed to them and not do anything for themselves.

Joe Luther  
What do you think about millennials? Not much. Do you have an opinion?

Unknown Speaker  
show up for work, and they're spoiled. And they're entitled?

Joe Luther  
Okay.

Unknown  
They need to use dude wipes. 

Vince Kern  
Why do you think they're like that?

Unknown Speaker  
Well, I'm gonna have to blame it. I think on the upbringing kind of thing. I think they're given everything they the parents just think they want to give them everything possible. And then they end up growing up not having thinking they have bills to pay and all that so because everything is just being done for them. So

Joe Luther  
Holy mackerel, dude, wipes, 

Vince Kern  
dude wipes. pretty harsh, wasn't it?

Joe Luther  
Yeah, what was really gets me is I was fascinated. I know, we both talked about this. I was just fascinated at the focus on work ethic you get somebody older, talking about somebody younger, and it seems like work ethic is the big issue.

Vince Kern  
Yeah, it was a big theme. And when we started sorting out the interviews, we noticed a definite upward trend of respect for work for older generations. And we noticed a definite downward generation trend of disrespect. And you and I got to talk in in the green room about, you know, is this something that's just happening now, because of the firehose of social media and our tendency to label things? Or is this really been going on for generations? I mean, you know, did our parents that whole business, right,

Joe Luther  
I would say not only generations, how about millennia? My guess is, you know, Sir Arthur was probably questioning, you know, his son's work ethic back in the medieval times, but I don't know,

Vince Kern  
right? It just didn't hear about it as much. Yeah. It wasn't on social media. That's for sure. So we just wanted to jump in for a second and highlight some of the stuff that we were hearing and wondering if you're hearing the same thing. But let's jump right back into the clips. So what are some of the things you've heard about millennials? Are they're lazy, they don't like to work? And do you believe that?

Unknown Speaker  
Yes, because I own multiple businesses, and it's for sure accurate. And I work with a lot of kids, I train kids coach them, and for sure, work ethic is an issue for younger people.

Vince Kern  
So given your impressions about the other generations, do you think the future is in good hands?

Unknown Speaker  
No, not really. I think we're trying to change the country right now. And we're promoting people to be lazy and, and get handouts and stuff like that. And they, they don't, if they don't work for it, they don't they don't feel the pride of accomplishing something and earning something. And I think then their kids see that too. And I think that's a bad example to set. I think kids should be shown that hey, you're gonna feel real good after you're done working hard today.

Vince Kern  
So what do you think is the biggest thing that we can do to to make that happen?

Unknown Speaker  
Just teach kids that while when they're done doing the work, even though they may have disliked cutting wood today, when they're done doing that? pat them on the back and encourage them and ask them how they feel about the day and and do they feel good now? The next day? Did you sleep better? Get a shower II? Do you feel better than you would have if you just sat around playing video games all day? You feel good about yourself? I think just complimenting the kids and and showing them that you do feel better after you've worked hard.

Joe Luther  
What do you think is the most common misconception about Generation Z?

Unknown Speaker  
I would say you know, we get a pretty bad rap because I'll be honest, there's a lot of kids and stuff that don't have a warp drive. They don't you know, they don't have that drive. All of us here today. We're all trades went straight into the trades out of school. And I feel like there's a lot of kids that are doing that. And they don't get the rap that there is still hardworking kids out there.

Vince Kern  
So what do you consider some of the common misconceptions of millennials

Unknown Speaker  
that we've never enjoyed life without cell phones because we hit did we played outside?

Unknown Speaker  
Or that we don't work hard, work hard. Sometimes. I think maybe the generation under us, is maybe a little bit lazier. And we get some of the rap for that. And that's not Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  
30 Plus, or were roped in with like the mid 20s which are kind of part of the AI

Unknown Speaker  
like those ones either. All right.

Joe Luther  
So what do you think? Couple millennials.

Unknown Speaker  
Like, like, like my man here said that there's people that want to work. And there's people that want shit handed to him. And I see that

Joe Luther  
today's college kid there you all the kids around here are Generation Z. What do you think a generation Z? Man, they're even worse than that. And my daughter is one of them. Like, this guy needs a technological world, you think that there's too much technology and not enough hardware?

Unknown Speaker  
No, I don't believe that at all. I just believe that you feel

Unknown Speaker  
they have entitlement to something they have no have not earned.

Unknown Speaker  
I'm saying the perception of people what they're trying to put out there when it's really not there. That's the thing with me. Young kids these days, I mean, it's all about the Snapchat and all that shit. And they're trying to look a certain way when they really ain't that way. And that's just going to continue into their, into their adulthood. And it's not a good thing. It doesn't it doesn't equate to a solid future as an adult.

Vince Kern  
Do you think as a culture will ever be able to overcome that?

Unknown Speaker  
That's a good question. You know, I hope so. But I don't see that happening. I don't you know, it's hard. It's hard to see that. Yeah, I don't I don't think so. It's only

Unknown Speaker  
gonna get worse.

Vince Kern  
A lot to unpack there. We heard some definite downward, generational dissing. And, you know, one of the things that I heard was a couple of different maybe types of things. We heard these trades people descend their own generation. And then we heard, you know, another guy talking about the social media firehose, that seems to be inspiring, in his mind, the Generation Z that everything was about the Snapchat.

Joe Luther  
Yeah, it was visceral. And, you know, I think you asked the first guy in that clip, whether the future is in good hands, and he doesn't think so. I mean, that's, that's pretty strong stuff. And, you know, one of the things I thought about when we were listening to this and reviewing it is, and it gets back to what we talked about in episode one. And that's this idea that, you know, friends in wonder, do not want to be a part of divisiveness, or labels, and that kind

Vince Kern  
of Yeah, we're not handing out dude wipes.

Joe Luther  
And yeah, and I guess, but what I think is going to be a lot of fun to unpack here, maybe when we're done with all of these clips, is to ponder what's going on here with all of these visceral responses?

Vince Kern  
Absolutely. So we've got some more clips, where there is a little bit more positivity. And it's interesting to juxtapose what we just heard with what we're about to hear. Do you want to get back in or to did have more to add about this? I

Joe Luther  
think, yeah, I think it's a good time, because, you know, has a little bit of, you know, a little dark. But it isn't all dark. Because, you know, one of the questions we're going to ask, I think, at the end of this next clip, will give a little preview to what we're thinking. And, and that is, our older generations, a little resistant to change. And I think we already that's a rhetorical question. In so these next clips kind of talk about more of the hope for the future in change for the better.

Vince Kern  
What is your understanding of what a millennial might be?

Unknown Speaker  
Kind of like, I don't even know how to describe millennials. Like some of my cousins are millennials. I think they're cool. I think it was a cool

Unknown Speaker  
both of my kids and millennials. And I think I think the millennials are really cool, really cool generation. Not real crazy about Gen Z they. But the millennials are cool. You know,

Vince Kern  
why? Why? What is it about the millennials that makes you feel that way? Other than the fact that your kids are millennials?

Unknown Speaker  
They just, they just seem to be a really much. I don't think they get enough credit. I think they're a lot more aware of, I think they're a lot smarter and a lot more aware of what's going on.

Joe Luther  
What do you think about millennials work ethic?

Unknown Speaker  
Well, I think millennials still have a work ethic work ethic. I think they do, I think,

Unknown Speaker  
to be able to like work remotely, both my daughter and her husband. You know, they seem to thrive on working remotely, you know, and while my son too, but I think they do have expectations. You know, what do I want to say? They don't like the structure of the typical nine to five job. You know, I think they expect more flexibility. They expect it, you know, I

Joe Luther  
think it's a good thing or a bad thing.

Unknown Speaker  
Well, I think it's a good thing to have flexibility, but like us or me, you know, I would see it as a luxury. But our children I think expect that kind of flexibility.

Joe Luther  
One of the common misconceptions boomers have of millennials is that millennials don't work hard. Do you agree with that?

Unknown Speaker  
Absolutely not. Okay. I'm the opposite. I started. So I worked for a company family owned company started from the bottom, now working my way up through all of our execs. So, you know,

Vince Kern  
alright, so there's a millennial talking about her work ethic, which is strong in her mind. Yeah. And last but not least, we've got a guy named Charles, who works for GM who actually supervises Gen Z. So he's not only got the experience of working with Gen z's, but he's got hope, and provide some solutions for the future. So let's, let's listen to Charles.

Unknown Speaker  
Ah, I think Gen Z's interesting. I have a supervisor and I got to come I got a few Gen Z employees, I think they're a little less inquisitive than previous generations, I think they grew up on the internet. And I don't think we fully understand what Greg up here that is doing everybody's braids. So I mean, there's there's a lot this, that's not their fault, either. They got dealt a bad head, too, but they're definitely a generation that's far more online than at iteration before it.

Vince Kern  
Interesting. So how do you see that playing out? Do you have hope for the future from a cultural perspective in that regard?

Unknown Speaker  
I mean, I think I think we'll see some of the negative effects. And we'll come back I think even see it now. And it did Z. I mean, jizzy aren't parents yet, for the most part, but I bet you they're gonna raise their kids differently, just like Millennials raise their kids differently, the previous generation, because, you know, as more and more parents are online and know what they're doing, you're gonna have less just giving free rein, I think I think there's gonna be less free rain, forgive kids as they grow up nowadays.

Joe Luther  
Now, there is a millennial who should give us all hope. And, you know, in fact, this idea of giving us hope I call bullshit on all of this broad brush labeling that millennials are any generation for that matter, doesn't know how to work or doesn't have a strong work ethic. And you know, and the other thing is the, I think it was a baby boomer, who we had interviewed, who we just heard from, whose children are millennials, and, and he was talking about how his millennial children, quote unquote, expect to have flexibility in the workplace. And I say, Absolutely, I think that's changed for the better. And maybe some of what we're hearing are people are just a little bit afraid of change and want things to be the way they know it.

Vince Kern  
Yeah, and change is going on all the time. And, and it is a question of whether we're able to adapt to change, to understand it to make things better. And we got some feedback from someone who does leadership coaching for a living, who has been asked by executives, about how to deal with some of these misconceptions and in working with millennials, in the workplace, and they're actually looking for ways to do it better. And he gave us some, some good research from the Pew Foundation and in some other places, and he broke it down into what Millennials want from a leader, and what Millennials want from a company. So let me just read those real quickly. What they want from a leader, according to this research is support in navigating a career path. And certainly in these days, it's difficult to navigate a career path. It's not a one job career anymore. They want receiving, they want to receive straight meaningful feedback. They want mentoring and coaching. They want sponsorship for development programs, they they're asking for help from from people. They want to be comfortable with flexible schedules, as you just referenced, the boomer now, what they want from a company is opportunity to develop individual skill sets, strong and consistently manifested core values, customizable options and benefits and compensation packages. God knows that's changing every week, ability to blend work with their personal life, a visible career path with milestones. And so, you know, this is as much to me about guiding future generations through change, and being willing to accept the changes that they need from us as well.

Joe Luther  
Yeah, and that was timely feedback to get that feedback before this episode, because it really plays into this whole concept that we're trying to get at here. And that is being willing to change for the better, and what's wrong with any of those things that you just enumerated? Like that's progress in my opinion. We don't want to have unhappy people at work. We don't want to be doing things inefficiently. What what the millennial movement and the younger generations are trying to bring into the workforce is a better sense of working.

Vince Kern  
And I gotta say, right off the bat that this whole experience has changed my way of thinking about this generational discussion. I went into it thinking people are more self siloed into their age definitions, but I came away thinking people take this labeling far less serious than, then we might be that I thought about it. And it really reinforced my view that humans are far more shaped by their upbringing and values and experiential learning. And whether they've had good mentors or not, by then, by these labeling definitions that that seemed to be thrust upon us.

Joe Luther  
Yeah. And I've always been, I've always I've always bristled, whenever there's any kind of generalizing about a certain group of people, of course, you know, obviously, any kind of isms that are out there are not usually good. And, and I really believe my takeaway, like yours, that kind of changed my thinking about this, is that, you know, it's, it's cute to try and put people into tight little packages. And maybe with this with the internet and the amplification of those labels, it seems more divisive. But my belief is like what I said earlier about King Arthur. Sir Galahad or the Middle Ages, is that this has been going on for millennia. And that is that, you know, the older generation is always going to be a little concerned, whether, you know, the new group has what it takes to keep things going. And and we're no different. And certainly, you know, even we heard Millennials questioning whether, you know, the Gen Z's are, are able, and I just think that's kind of a common theme, but it seems like it just gets more amplified today.

Vince Kern  
Yeah, you know, I don't think King Arthur was too worried about his kid doing tick tock videos, he was more worried about whether he was, you know, gonna grow up to be a good night and could ride a horse and, and all those things. And I really do think that the, the problem lies with within our culture to the degree that we hold these things up as as, as, you know, valuable thing, you know, the dance videos and all that, yeah, they're cute, but when they become the way that you're gonna think you're gonna make a living, you know, it gets a little ridiculous. And we did hear people talking about that, you know, you hear these professional athletes talking about, don't grow up thinking you're going to be a pro basketball player, because only one in 50,000, or however many million people become that. So we heard people talk about parenting and in the core values that are more human centered. And I think that's kind of what what you're getting at and what what I'm getting at is that we need to focus more on the human aspect of it rather than, you know, the cultural things that are happening.

Joe Luther  
Yeah, and I guess, really to put a bow on it is, you know, from our DNA, is it helpful? Are these labels helpful? And by and large? I don't think they are, I think it's important to know that certain generations, like boomers have certain characteristics because of our experience in life. And certain generations that are younger, might have certain experiences as well. But in terms of broad brushing, and having this idea that some know how to work, and some don't, I don't think that's very helpful. And quite frankly, when it comes to Gen Z, I think, what are we even deciding on yet? I think it's fine for them to be on tic tac and do what they want, as long as they know. It's just fun and games right now. They're at that stage in their life when funding games is perfectly acceptable.

Vince Kern  
Yeah, we had MTV coming out. And I remember having having a party for the first day of MTV, and that was a big thing to us, because it was a cultural experience that our generation could identify with. And silly now and it sounds like you know, the same kind of thing you just mentioned.

Joe Luther  
Yeah. And my parents used to tell me you watch too much TV, your brains gonna turn to mush? Well, I think I'm doing this by me, maybe I'm not doing let's hope we

Vince Kern  
are. And you know, one of the things that we really did get from our first episode was a lot of feedback. And this is a About wondering, obviously are friends in wonder title as opposed to going with the expanding boomers, which we talked about in the first episode. But we also would really love to hear how you feel about things after hearing some of these comments or even experiences within your own life. So this is one where we want to keep the the generational ball rolling, if you will. And we're going to, I'm going to actively ask for some feedback at talk at friends in wonder.com. Send us your thoughts can be anonymous. Just just share with us what you thought about some of these conceptions, misconceptions. And in thinking,

Joe Luther  
yeah, and as we had it, I think it'll be fun to play a few last clips, where it's a little bit more unifying and a little bit more playful than Yeah, we

Vince Kern  
learned a few things while we were on this experience. And some of them were a little surprising. So let's, let's, let's wind up with some of our I don't know if our Canadian friends are coming back or not. But we'll see.

Unknown Speaker  
Well, I'm 42 Actually 41 Because we get two years back from COVID. So I'm actually 40

Vince Kern  
You get two years back from COVID. Right? Yes.

Unknown Speaker  
Yeah, it's that's a fact. Actually, those years.

Unknown Speaker  
That's how it is you get subtract two years off your life. Yes. After COVID All right.

Vince Kern  
Okay, can we all agree that the Beatles are the greatest band ever?

Unknown Speaker  
greatest, greatest songwriters of all time? Yes.

Joe Luther  
Can we all agree on one thing? Do you like the Beatles? Love the Beatles, Beatles, The Beatles. Love the Beatles. Exactly what the world needs now is love.

Vince Kern  
And Joe, this was such a fun episode or two to put together because it was a lot of material. And I had a blast. And I hope you

Joe Luther  
did too. Oh, I really did. I can't wait to go back out and do it again. We just got to come up with the next topic, but maybe our listeners will suggest something.

Vince Kern  
Indeed. Thanks for listening. Again, like, subscribe, share, and join us next week for another episode of crimson wonder. actually come in. We got a heater come in. All right. Thank you for breakfast burritos. You guys want to read up