Differences can be the source of judgment and tension. Understanding can lower judgment and enable appreciation and leveraging. The sequence is: awareness, understanding, appreciation, leveraging. If we can understand and appreciate masculine-feminine differences, we gain insights and skills that enable us to appreciate and leverage all kinds of differences.
Recent discussions on the “Millennials” (Generation Y) focus on (negative) stereotypes and on similarities. An HBR blog says we exaggerate differences and should focus on similarities. I agree that we exaggerate differences but do not think the solution is in ignoring them. We can be “generation blind” no more than we can be “color blind” in dealing with racial differences. Recognizing differences enables us to see strengths and to leverage differences.
To reduce judgment about other generations, it helps to understand them — and why members of that generation are different from members of our own. One important factor in shaping generations is how they were parented during their formative years. GenXers are independent and self-directed and want “life/work balance” because their parents were workaholic Baby Boomers and they grew up in two-career families or families of divorce. Millennials are confident, but more dependent on advice and praise, because their parents protected and praised them.
