“Internet thinking” is the key to understanding your Gen X employees!

Posted by on Apr 1, 2012 in Baby Boomers, Generation X, Marketing | 0 comments

What is “Internet thinking?”

Internet thinking means that it is the quality of the idea alone that should matter.  Think about it.  In a chat room on the Internet, neither person knows the age, education, sex nor experience of the other person.  They only know the quality and logic of the ideas being offered to them.

Gen Xers (ages 31-51) were the first generation of Americans to value this concept.

Let me give you a hypothetical situation that demonstrates how this affects their job performance:

A new Gen X employee walks into your office on day one.  It’s two hours into the morning of the first day on the job, and the Gen Xer offers you, the boss, an idea.  This is typical Gen X behavior.

The Gen Xer is not being disrespectful of your years of experience.  Xers are simply into “Internet thinking.”

To Xers, it’s the quality of their idea that counts, not the time served.

So, when an Xer asks you to consider something new, they’ll understand “No” as long as they think it’s not a knee-jerk reaction.  And, they’ll understand “No” if you give them a valid reason why it might not work.

Give them a knee-jerk “No” … and the Xer is already thinking about looking for another job, one where new ideas are considered.

That’s what Internet thinking is all about.