A Lesson or Two from Our Furry Friends

By David Stillman

That’s right, on November 10, Ernie, Bert, and the gang turned the big 4–0!

What began in 1969 as a mission to supplement school lessons for inner-city children is still going strong and has picked up a much larger viewing audience across the globe along the way—not to mention 8 Grammys and more than 100 Emmys!

Clearly, Sesame Street has done something right.

One of the producers commented, “While our mission has remained the same, we have always known that our viewers have changed. To tackle this, we have tried to keep the team fresh and challenge ourselves to stay in touch with the times.”

Makes sense. When the show launched, the target audience was Generation X. Now 40 years later, Sesame Street has to appeal to a whole new generation of viewers.

What makes even more sense is how businesses are faced with a similar challenge—they too have to figure out how to attract new generations of employees and customers while still getting the same job done.

Perhaps leaders can take a lesson or two from the furry friends of Sesame Street:

Keep the team fresh. Millennials would be shocked to know that there was a time on Sesame Street that was B.E.—that is, before Elmo. In the early years, Xers were pleased with Ernie, Bert, Big Bird, Oscar, and Grover. However, as a new generation started to tune in, they wanted someone new, someone fresh, someone to call their own. So in November 1985, Elmo made his grand debut. With this new cast mate, viewership increased, as did business opportunities. From merchandise to movies, Elmo was a cash cow. He took the show beyond public television, making appearances on all the major primetime shows. Elmo even showed up at the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education in April 2002, urging support for increased funding in music education.

Do you have the same old people on the same old projects and teams? Maybe it’s time to freshen up and find your Elmo. Who knows, maybe new teammates can take your mission all the way to Washington!

Stay in touch with the times. Even Sesame Street would admit that many of its practices and procedures from the early days no longer resonate and, in fact, may even—gasp—fuel bad behavior! Take Cookie Monster. The early episodes showed the blue monster going so insane for cookies that he would hallucinate and eat everything from a rotary phone to a children’s toy! In 2006, amidst reports that childhood obesity had reached epidemic proportions, Cookie clearly checked in to rehab for junk food. Check out Cookie Monster today, and his diet is much more balanced. He now has adopted the philosophy that cookies are a “sometimes food.”

Sesame Street has not only embraced cultural changes like these, but it advertises them. Now, at the beginning of any DVD featuring early episodes, it states, “These early Sesame Street episodes are intended for grown-ups and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”

What signs of the times should change the way you do business? Whether it’s starting to use social networking to reach out to new people in new ways or relaxing rules on in-office face time as employees can now easily work from home, are you in touch with the times enough to cater to new generations of employees and customers?

• • •

But as much as Sesame Street can teach businesses how to change with the times, it is also an example of making sure some things don’t change.

One thing is for sure: the world around 123 Sesame Street has evolved over 40 years, and the unflinchingly genuine attitudes of its residents have never changed. Every time a parent and child turn on the show, while they may not know what will be discussed, they can count on Ernie, Bert, and the gang to do it in a comforting, consistent manner.

Ask yourself, as the world around you changes, can your fellow employees count on the same, consistent person showing up?

Again, we can learn from our furry friends—well, maybe not Oscar the Grouch.

From Scratch

By Debra Fiterman

Debra Fiterman is a speaker, researcher, writer, and consultant at BridgeWorks. She often writes from the perspective of Millennials—her generation of plugged-in and tech-savvy 20–somethings.

Anyone who has ever eaten a chocolate chip cookie knows that when it’s “from scratch,” it is always better. However, when one generation defines from scratch as flour and eggs, and another defines it as putting refrigerated cookie dough on a pan and baking, you might run into some problems.

The younger generations have been given “from-scratch-shortcuts” since we were kids. From coloring on paper that helps you stay in the lines to having templates in Microsoft that make resume writing a snap, Millennials are able to get things done quickly and with less effort. But at what cost?

From the moment my generation, the Millennials, started entering the workplace, it didn’t take long for the other generations to label us as entitled and lazy. As experts and consultants, we hear that Millennials just don’t seem willing to put in the same effort as the other generations did.

It’s not that my generation doesn’t want to yield good results. Of course we do. But when we don’t see a difference in the end result if we do it the long way or if we take a shortcut, we might think, “Why not just use the pre-made, refrigerated cookie dough?” Or at the office, “Why not just use the ‘find-replace’ tool and resubmit this proposal to all of our clients?”

Of course there is often a price to efficiency and convenience. Details get overlooked, mistakes are made, and it can affect the bottom line. But to be honest, it might be difficult for Millennials to see it. This is when my generation needs the guidance of the more experienced generations to help us. And Millennials—we need to be listening!

But be warned, it will not be enough to convince Millennials to change by saying, “We do it that way because it’s the way it’s always been done.” However, if you can explain why the long way is better, Millennials will listen.

On the other hand, I’d like to challenge the Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, and Gen Xers to ask themselves if there isn’t a new way to go about things. Because let’s be honest, those cookies that come out of a tube are pretty darn good! And they can be made in half the time with a fraction of the dishes.

So ask yourself, what can you do in your company that will save you some effort, some clean-up, and maybe even some money?

The End of the Expert?!

By David Stillman

True story:

A Boomer colleague had an opportunity to pitch a new business but was on a very tight timeline. With the economy hurting his own business, there was no way he was about to blow off this opportunity.

It was a new industry he was pitching, so he needed as much background data as possible. Who better to call than his resourceful new Millennial hire? This woman was the best at getting her hands on information in record time.

Sure enough, within hours of his request, she had facts, best and next practices, top trends, and even quotes from industry leaders.

The Boomer put it all together in a jazzy looking document and e-mailed it off to the potential new client. Fingers were crossed that he would land the new business!

The next day, he received an e-mail from the potential new business asking where he had found a statistic because it was one that they hadn’t seen before. When the Boomer asked the new Millennial, she said, “Oh, I got it from one of my friends on Facebook. I’ll have to ask her where she found it.”

A few minutes later, the Millennial reported back that her friend wasn’t sure where she had found the statistic either. It didn’t look like she would be able to find out.

What was the Boomer to do? He couldn’t exactly write back saying, “We got the stat from a friend on Facebook,” and, obviously, ignoring the e-mail wouldn’t exactly help land the new business.

• • •

It’s a new trend we often come across that is causing a lot of generational collisions. We call it “the end of the expert as we know it.”

When Traditionalists, Boomers, and even Gen Xers entered the work world, they had fewer resources at their fingertips. It was quite clear who were the credible sources when gathering information. If they weren’t clear, it was never a question whether or not you could use the source. In fact, it was pretty black and white.

Enter Millennials, who have always had any and every bit of information hurled at them from all directions. Since birth, the number of sources at their fingertips has been endless. Add in the fact that its an era where anyone can put up a Web page or blog on a topic and grant themselves the title “expert.” Surprise, surprise . . . the credibility factor becomes quite grey.

How do you teach Millennials which sources of information are truly credible? Who is an expert? Who isn’t? Do we even know anymore?

Are You Working Through the Flu?

By Kel Gratke

Kel Gratke is a Gen Xer.

Last week when I wasn’t feeling well at work, the message was loud and clear: “Go home! Go to the doctor!”

As sympathetic as my coworkers tried to be, I was quick to pick up on the fact that no one wanted to get infected—especially with flu season and the cloud of H1N1 hanging over our heads. As I drove home, I contemplated how each of the generations reacts when the sickness bug overcomes them.

The Baby Boomers have always been told that putting in the most and longest hours means you’re a strong employee. Add in their competitive drive, and it can be downright impossible to feel comfortable taking a day off. A day away from the office meant 80 million others could catch up or worse—pass you up!

It’s no wonder that Boomers were not driven to stay home and heal; it was more a competition to see who could accrue the most sick days! The problem isn’t whether or not companies have made it easier for Boomers to take time off—it’s that Boomers still feel that it would be a sign of weakness. Surveys show that Boomers will still go to work sick if they feel they have too much to do or would fall under the “wimp” category.

Compare that to Gen Xers, who vowed to never pay the same price for success as previous generations. Accruing sick days is not a badge of honor. Getting Xers to admit they’re sick and need the time off is not a problem. The challenge with Xers is that their lifestage makes every one of those sick days more valuable than any immunization.

Knowing when to cash in sick days or to just go to work ill is the million dollar question. Since they are not empty nesters, Xers know that when they are infected with the flu bug, there is a good chance that other birds in the nest will get sick, too. That means that regardless of how quick the Xer heals, it is likely they will need more time away to take care of the kids who couldn’t go to school or to pitch in while their partner/spouse is down for the count.

What about Millennials and sick days? For 15 percent of Millennials who are living with Mom and Dad, it can be a trip down memory lane with homemade chicken noodle soup, plenty of TLC, and reruns on TV. But even for those who have left the nest, sick days don’t seem to be that big of a deal.

The majority of Millennials don’t have kids to worry about infecting and later caring for—and unlike Boomers, they aren’t worried that a day at home means they’ve gone off the grid. Millennials have never been defined by space and pace—so being at home and resting isn’t that hard to embrace because they can still be online and feeling as much in the loop as ever.

So with generational differences like these, how best can you manage flu season?

The FloH Club

By David Stillman

Here’s the story, of a lovely lady . . .

It doesn’t take more than that for all generations to sing along to The Brady Bunch theme. That lovely lady was no other than Florence Henderson (aka Carol Brady).

Well, at age 75, she’s still at it! She has started The Flo H Club. This new business venture, as she says, “is for people, like me, who didn’t grow up with computers.”

Who would have ever thought that Mrs. Brady would be providing telephone-based technical support? But she is . . . and from digital photos to the Internet, the FloH Club is a phone call away for Traditionalists and Boomers who need help with technology.

In our line of work, we get generational articles, Web site links, and more sent to us every day. But this one we couldn’t ignore as it is a generational hot button.

Like Mrs. Brady, what are companies doing to help the technophobic get more comfortable online?

Unfortunately, too many companies aren’t doing enough and are only assuming that Traditionalists and Boomers will be left on the side of the road, or even worse, be a road block. These assumptions are not only unfair—but also untrue.

What companies need to bridge the technology gap:

Be More Patient: As Mrs. Brady herself says, “I have found that a fear of technology is often a fear of the unknown.” Competitive Boomers can’t look inadequate in front of their colleagues. When companies roll out new systems at lightening speed, sometimes the best survival tactic is to avoid it. Companies need to not only respect these fears but also be patient with them.

Provide Different Teaching Methods: While sending out a training podcast or Webinar might work for a Millennial who has been self-taught since birth, that same method might not work for a Boomer or Traditionalist. Companies and trainers need to adjust their methodology to each generation.

One of our clients, Hallmark Cards, rolled out new high-tech cash registers. The young associates needed a brief online training session, and they had it down in no time. But the Traditionalists and Boomers clearly needed more time.

All it took was a little more practice time. When Traditionalists and Boomers started their shifts, they were allowed to put the register into practice mode and were give mock scenarios so they could “play” with it a little more. It wasn’t long before they were ready to ring up customers.

Embrace Your Youngest Mentors: Oftentimes this technology gap actually brings the generations closer together. Millennials are accustomed to answering questions from their parents about the TIVO and wireless Internet.

We love hearing how Millennials are not rolling their eyes and instead rolling up their chair right next to that older worker!

What best practices have you seen to bridge the technology gap?

If all else is failing, remember, you can always give Florence Henderson a call!