Quoted in The New York Times’ Article on Gen X!!
Exciting news! Did you see my quote in The New York Times??! Check out the images. I was thrilled to be in this feature story about Gen X because we do *not* talk about Gen X enough. I also loved that I was able to share my mission to reposition generations as helpful “clues and not a box.”
If you’ve heard my presentations, you know how important I believe Gen X is within organizations, and communities, as leaders, and as the glue between other generations. In too many conversations about generations, Generation X is overlooked or undervalued. We need to shift the generational conversation to better include and value Gen X change as they continue to move into senior leadership roles and are the natural bridge between other generations.
In our work with leaders around the world, we also find that Gen X is the #1 generation that they should focus on retaining in their workforce! Yep, Gen X. Why? Because they are often deciding what they are going to do with their current job and career.
I’m grateful to be in a story about Generation X and to share our research-based focus on generations. Here was my quote in The New York Times story:
“A lot of experts make it sound like you’re putting people in boxes based on their birth year, but what we want people to understand is that generations are clues, not a box,” said Jason Dorsey, a workplace researcher. “Just because you’re born in a certain year doesn’t mean someone knows everything about you.”
If you are familiar with my work—or that of CGK’s team—you know that we view generations not as a rigid box that everyone must fit inside, but rather we view generations as helpful clues for leaders, coworkers, families, and communities to understand and build stronger connections.
We find that explaining “generations as clues and not a box” makes the conversation more constructive and helpful to better understand where people are coming from, empathize with how they view the world, and strategically build the trust, culture, and togetherness that is essential in high-performing organizations.
Are you in Gen X? Do you feel like Gen X is not talked about enough? I know many who can relate! In fact, my wife, business partner, and frequent co-author is in Gen X, so I am inspired by Gen X daily. Thank you for being on this journey of research, speaking, and discovery with me and CGK.