“What can we gain from friction?”

When I consider the idea of friction, scientifically when we speak about friction, friction creates this heat like energy, right? So I don’t necessarily think that it’s a bad thing to have friction within the workplace. But, I do think that it’s important that it’s managed intentionally.

And intergenerational differences can lead to transformative growth in the workplace. So, for example, in my professional experience with two-way mentoring programs in the workplace, it can be incredibly powerful and it’s often the most successful. So when we’re talking about a boomer who might be mentoring, a Gen Z employee on leadership, while that same Gen Z colleague can share tips and personal branding ideas to help like leverage emerging technology, how to market certain things, how to create digital ads, et cetera, I think that it’s important that both parties are walking away with something. They’re walking away, more confident, more connected, feeling smarter about a topic that they may not have felt confident about in the past, and that’s really important.

“Is there a positive side to value clashes?”

I think so. I think that when we’re thinking about a clash of values or these value-based conversations, that’s an approach that I would recommend a lot of organizations consider, this value of conversations.

We talked about two-way mentoring, right? And this friction often reveals what matters most to people. So when we think about friction, yes, it creates this energy of heat, this energy of conflict, this negativity within the organization, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. So once we process those, those emotions or those feelings, um, it can create connection and understanding. So for instance, a younger employee may wanna push more climate policies or mental health policies within their HR departments. And, I think this is actually challenging organizations toward adaptability and transformation in a meaningful way. It’s not necessarily a negative thing, but a lot of the time, you know, people who may be receiving these forms of feedback, within their organization, they might be like, oh, that’s, that’s, that’s a little bit too progressive or, or too modern for our organization. Our organization doesn’t do that. And I think that it’s important to lean into that idea of learning from each other. So maybe this person actually has a point here. Let me do some research on this. Let me understand why it’s so important to them, and maybe we can talk about it as a team. Maybe we can ensure that when we go to leadership with this idea that we do our research, we put together a briefing note, etc., to ensure that everyone’s equipped well.

So just engaging in those conversations are important. And another approach that I would recommend is the idea of norm shifting. And when we’re considering this idea of norm shift shifting within our workplace, we’re considering transformation. We’re considering intergenerational dialogue, which helps to guide people. So. For example, when we’re talking about rigid hierarchies within an organization, we can also consider that burnout exists within an organization and work-life balance is important to different generations within an organization. And I think that debunking or just peeling back the layers to these rigid hierarchies, it’s important to understand that organizations are continuously moving towards transformation, organizational change and growth and development, right? Mm-hmm. And that leads me into my last approach here, which I would recommend organizations consider this idea of future proofing, right? And, it’s kind of a way of, you know, folding in two-way mentoring value-based conversations and norm shifting together into one, to ensure that when we’re listening to the next generation, we’re not just meeting their needs, but we’re able to learn from their needs, understand the intergenerational conversations and dialogues that need to take place in order for the organization to thrive. And I think it’s important because leaning into these different perspectives is what’s gonna drive intergenerational collaboration.

A few years back when a millennial employee had voiced that they didn’t necessarily want to be on call, and this was during the pandemic, right. And they didn’t wanna be on call after hours because of course work life balance, and an older manager, I remember them vividly, specifically scoffing, like out loud. And I thought, oh, uh, okay, that person’s not comfortable with this. But after a few conversations, she ultimately had admitted that the reason why she scoffed is because back in her day, and I have to keep putting quotations because yes, you know, I don’t necessarily think that this individual was old, but back in her day, she never could speak up about that work life balance. And, it sparked this nuanced conversation about how our team started to communicate with each other, and creating healthier policies. And it actually catapulted into an actual policy that was created where you did not have to respond to emails or take calls after your working hours, your specific hours.

And I think that’s a great example of when we start to embrace these intergenerational differences and open up dialogue and leave space for these conversations, we’re not just tolerating each other, which you spoke to, right? Like we’re transforming together as communities, as organizations