I know that the topic of generational differences irritates some people. My personal experience, though, is that when it comes to certain things, baby boomer points of view do often differ from millennial points of view. One of these areas of debate is process.
Why (Some) Boomers Like Process and (Some) Millennials Don’t
Many boomers scaled their organizations successfully because they put the right processes in place to do so. For a long time, these processes worked, and so understandably they may be reluctant to let go of them. And when new business challenges present themselves, many leaders answer them with new processes, because after all processes are tried and true. These are the rules, and if we don’t stray from them, we’ll be okay.
When millennials came into the work world starting in the aughts, many weren’t as enamored by process. They wanted to use new technologies, in real time, to solve new kind of dilemmas popping up every day. They wanted to change business for the better by streamlining work and getting it done as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Tension started to build, particularly in this decade when the health and survival of a company depends upon its ability to be agile. Some leaders wanted to stick steadfastly by procedures that had served them well in the past, while others felt that existing processes and the bureaucracy often associated with them were impeding growth and true progress.
For more where this came from, head over to the QuickBase Fast Track blog.
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