Crossing the Generational Divide
Earlier today I received a Tweet on the Andrew Zuckerman book Wisdom. Check it out, amazing stuff- http://www.wisdombook.org. I can’t wait to get my copy. Thanks to Steffan Antonas (Twitter- @SteffanAntonas Blog-http://blog.steffanantonas.com) for his Tweet.
Anyway, it really started me thinking about the act of communicating with those both younger and older than your peer group.
For starters it is so easy to bridge the gap between those in your relative age group through easily known common interest points- music, sports, books, common experiences, to name a few. Sorry, you get no credit here, as hard as it is for some, still too easy.
Crossing the divide between those much younger or much older than you requires a more focused effort, or better said, an interest in learning about and exploring the important things in the lives of those individuals. It is quite easy, but you have to go about it in a way that engages (I hate to sound like the social networking world, and I assure you that it is far from the point, but I can’t ignore the similarities).
How so? Let them know that you too care about the things that are important to them.
As an example- as a young kid we (large extended Irish family-like you already don’t know) would always get together for the major holidays here on the east coast. It gave me to opportunity to catch up with my grandparents and all the new creations that were popping up everywhere (and I mean everywhere- Irish remember). I loved it. For whatever the reason I enjoyed the interaction amongst all the various age groups. It provided invaluable communication skills (little did I know at the time) to draw upon in unfamiliar territory.
Yeah, sure your thinking “but that’s family, its easy.” Well I have news for you, the rules, surprisingly, do not change, We all want to feel that others care about our opinions, respect that “we might be wrong” or right, and that the intellect is appreciated and the emotion felt.
Go out there some day soon, surprise yourself and surprise someone else. Let them know that you understand what it is that is important in their life. Share the emotion. The divide will vanish into thin air. It’s what makes the world go round.
