I had a ball recently with a company called Tenaska out of Omaha.  They were looking for an interesting way to open their annual employee meeting and traditionally have used industry speakers but were looking for something different this year.  They are an energy company of all sorts and the typical speaker for them, while very relevant to their business, may have been a bit dry.

I spent two hours with them explaining the generational change and the impact on a typical workplace - how people communicated, work together, understand one another, etc.  It went very well and was a lot of fun.  And the feedback was that everyone in the audience saw themselves somewhere in the content and were ribbing one another for the rest of the meeting.  Lots of fun.  That is the stuff that really makes me enjoy my work.

Welcome.  I'm glad you're here.  I've tried to maintain an active blog in the past but failed miserably.  This time I hope to keep it going because there are so many interesting components to the generational conversation going on today that there is plenty to write about, to share with readers, and to get your feedback.

Example - Today, 9/10, I'm in Squaw Creek, California at the American Gas Association President's meeting.  Attendees, as you maybe can imagine, are the presidents and CEOs of the gas utilities from across the US.  Their request of me in preparing for my presentation this morning was to highlight why this generational conversation is even happening and then what do they need to begin thinking about to solve it.  One of their most significant issues i how they are going to have to extract the Baby Boomer's "Institutional Wisdom" so they will be able to continue to serve the customers.  So, they wanted to know, how do we get their wisdom, how to they keep them from retiring, and how do they get them to return from retirement once they are gone.

I shared ideas from Kellogg's, Estee Lauder, and an energy producer (Devon Energy, I think - I don't remember the company that gave me this idea) on how to do just that.  But hindering these gas companies efforts are some of their own institutional beliefs - forced retirement, disincentives to continue working after a certain age due to pension penalties.  And then there are union problems.  So the answer is not easy but they do recognize that this generational shift is for real and that they better get their arms around this problem.  It was super to see these Presidents and CEOs of these utilities come to an understanding of this problem because for years it has only been the HR offices that cared at all.  Now that this generational shift is becoming very visible in workplaces, the leadership is very interested.

Finally, of personal interest, the opening keynote speaker this morning was former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson.  He is now 76 years old and has recently served on the President's Advisory Group for Iraq.  He's quite a man and a remarkable statesman, something which we have too few of in politics today.  I remember serving as an intern on Capitol Hill for Mobile, AL congressman Sonny Callahan in the early 1990s and watching Senator Simpson speak on the Senate floor and heard him again when he spoke to the interns from all the congressional offices and he was dynamite.  Well, he was dynamite again today receiving three standing ovations from this audience.  A truly great American.  And I had to follow him.  But, man, what a treat to see him again.  I still remember his remarks from over 20 years ago like they were yesterday and he was just as good today. 

Feedback for me?  Comments?  Opinions?  Share them and I'll post them and do my best to answer them.