John: ​I was wondering if you have come across/created any activities for groups that were interested in exploring generational issues/awareness?

I wonder about dividing groups by generation (if they have a good mix) and getting them to do the same activity and compare differences on process? Conversations/panels between generations with the right questions would be fruitful too. Thoughts?

Chris: ​You pose an interesting question. I don't know any activities specific to "generational issues/awareness" and have yet to create/develop anything specific myself. 

My question back to you is, What problem are you wanting to solve with such activities? (I have a pretty good idea, but I'm interested in your answer.) 

I've had a number of clients over the past year that have expressed concern over the dynamics between the "older" and "newer" (i.e., younger) employees. When I worked with them we explored the behaviors (things seen and heard) that surfaced through the program activities - Which behaviors were working for them and which ones where not?. Then, it was all about deciding what the group wanted to keep doing and what they wanted to change (or start doing). Some behaviors (good or bad) did relate to different ways of thinking, which could have been attributed to generational issues - but is that the REAL issue? 

In my mind it's all about diversity. This is a BIG word in the workplace and in educational settings across the world as of late. Age gaps (that might include different ways of thinking, acting and being) are simply diverse groups of people challenged to find ways to work together.

Thoughts? 

John: Thanks for your reply. I am surprised that there are not many/any generational activities out there!

I am not trying to solve any problem per se. I look at generational stuff as a generational intelligence like emotional intelligence with 4 categories:

1. self awareness
2. self management
3. social awareness
4. social management

I would like to raise [generational] intelligence,

A lot of clients have been talking and asking about generational training. And I have been scratching my head and am curious. 

Is all this generational stuff just different behaviors as you mentioned? Is it different cultural dimensions? Is it a hoax? Or is it more?

My leaning is toward more. I get to work with groups (7th graders, MBA students, etc.) now over decades. I am getting older and they remain the same age. So it could be me being different/older but I see a difference in these groups. For one, they all seem nicer. And less strategic. And they jump to a solution...I call this firing...and they keep on firing without any sense of ready or aim (their world is one of velocity). They also do not seem strategically interested in going in a straight line from A to B and would rather go out in some tangential direction away from B but thinking that it still leads to B (don't know if I am clear here?). Do you see any of this?

So I am big on raising awareness and managing that new awareness for a different result.

I was recently taught 2 new words. Ethnocentric (believing that your way is the only way or the best way) and ethnorelative (believing that there are many ways/thoughts/cultural preferences which are different than yours yet valid and important for you to master also to be a great leader). This has changed my thinking immensely. My awareness and management of self and others has shifted because of this. I have moved away from binary thinking to dialetic (AND)...that multiple ways are both/all  right. I would like to look into generational issues with the same light. 

I am not a researcher [but] like to test things and gain data right away. Which ties into the experiential activity field we are in.

Why not divide groups by generations and see how they solve problems/think? Is there any correlation to generations?

The messy part is that sociologists pick the dates of generations and they do not agree to dates exactly. And there is [the] middle of the generation as well as at the beginning or at the end which would affect people differently.

People from different generations seem to look at each other as if they were aliens. Nanu nanu! How to shine light here?

I hope this answers some of your questions about my interest in generations.

​Thoughts?

My favorite name game is Group Juggle because it seems to be the most helpful in actually learning names. But, after you facilitate it for the hundredth time it's time for something different. ​

Do you know of any [other name games] that are as helpful and active as Group Juggle that work with youth and adults?

Now that you understand how PTP works I would like to give you a challenge - remember, it's your challenge, your choice around here, so it's up to you if you want to try "testing out." We're going to continue the activity, following PTP. After a few minutes I will stop the process and ask who would like to test out. If you are up for the challenge, the first thing you will need to tell me is what grade you want to go for - this means, getting 90% or more names correct gives you an "A" grade. (For an A+ you need to get all the names correct.) A "B" is in the 80th percents, a "C" is in the 70th percents, and so on. If you don't get the grade you want, you can try again after another round of tossing play.