Generational misunderstandings and friction can send human capital costs spiraling dramatically upward. So before you jump into the multi-generational traffic flow and get hit or cause an accident, you need to look both ways.

To make exciting futures possible, the focus should not be on our differences, clash points, or collisions, but rather on understanding the different generations’ connecting points and common ground. The challenge is to shift our differences from causing problems into creating opportunities. Powerfully working with each generation in a way that empowers and inspires its members is critical to your success. If you already know and implement such practices, you still may want to introduce such ideas to a colleague or manager who has a tendency to say such things as:

• If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
• They just need to learn the way we do things here.
• We will allow Facebook in the workplace over my dead body.
• They should be happy to have a job and stop whining.
Generational missteps often result in a loss of community and belief in the organization’s vision, mission, and leadership. By recognizing what causes friction points and misunderstandings, we can significantly reduce costs including:

• Reduced profitability
• Loss of valuable employees
• High turnover costs and losses
• Wasted human potential
• Poor customer service
• Derailed careers
• Health issues caused by stress
In order to remain relevant and maintain a leading edge in today’s marketplace, we must start by seeking to improve our inter-generational effectiveness. When properly applied, the elements of Generational CODES allow us to integrate each generation’s formative experiences, events, and leaders with the social moods and natural life phases, which in turn, shape each generation and influence every aspect of that generation’s professional and personal life choices.
When properly [thoughtfully, carefully, intelligently] applied…Generational CODES can help us to:

• Understand better the actions and motivations of others.
• Understand what others are trying to tell us.
• Help us be effective in getting our ideas across to them.
• Help others achieve their own goals and fullest potential.
• Mold a true team out of diverse individuals from different generations.
• Improve the bottom line.
It’s all about how the members of different generations see the world through their generational lenses, their Generational CODES. True power becomes available when we have mastery in realizing how the paradigms and beliefs in our own CODES can actually create barriers and obstacles in supporting and advancing a fulfilling exciting future for our company, community, technology, and family.

I hope that this insight allows you to increase profits and productivity within your organization. The more we understand each other’s Generational CODES, the more successful we all will be.