I was talking with a younger employees today – I think he’s 19 or 20 – and we got on to the subject of what makes Gen-X tick…
I boiled it down to “The pragmatic acceptance of reality being problematic most of the time and the ability to just embrace the suck and not be phased by it.”
Gen-X’ers grew up in a time before, well, everything that the modern world does – we’re the last “analog minds” that were formed in the absence of the present day always-on paradigm, helicopter parenting, and everything having the sharp corners sanded off… For my generation, when there was a problem – physically or interpersonally – we really didn’t have a choice but to figure it out and fix it. Which created a strong self-reliance mindset that doesn’t balk at a problem.
It’s instinctual for me to run into an issue – even something I’ve never encountered before – and just start working out how to get around, over, or though it by applying ‘analog’ problem solving systems that involve lots of structured trial and error that I keep in my head to prevent repeat attempts. I don’t reach for a phone to pull up a browser to see what other people have done – not until I’ve exhausted my own means.
He thought this was pretty interesting as it’s second nature for him to just ask an AI for an answer and run with it. And the thought of two dozen permutations of trial and error being maintained in the problem solving thought pattern kind of blew his mind.
I really worry about what happens after folks my age are gone – there’s an entire set of skills we have that don’t exist outside of this generation, that are kind of essential… Maybe GenAI will fill that gap?
Leave a Reply