We as humans like to categorize. Whether it be genres and sub genres of music, which mobile apps that all accomplish something similar are best to worst, or which foods are the healthiest.
But the area we find ourselves categorizing the most today is our generational differences in the workforce, success and what success means to different generations, especially in manufacturing.
In recent years, the change curve of manufacturing has gone from an overly static line to a much more extreme slope. There was a time when we all knew what manufacturing was, and it was safe to assume we knew where it was headed. Technological change is uprooting that sedentary thought, and the change curve of manufacturing has become more of an upward climb. Essentially, what the industry and job market of manufacturing was isn’t what it is now or what it will eventually become.
That change curve also has an effect on what manufacturing jobs will be in the future, as opposed to what they were in the past. And that hard trend changes how we categorize success and what it means. Success as an employee of a manufacturing company has a whole new meaning. Much like how we knew where jobs were in manufacturing and where they were headed, we used to have a polarized view of what success meant. For many baby boomers in manufacturing, it meant working at a company until you retired. It meant doing the repetitive and often dirty jobs to make ends meet. Whatever it meant, the paycheck at the end of the week was a physical depiction of your success as a worker.
The younger generations entering the workforce have an entirely different view on life, success, and jobs in general, let alone jobs in manufacturing. Digital technology, additive manufacturing (3D printing) and the internet of things (IoT) are already here and, in most cases, making our lives easier; however the millennial generation and younger have grown up with technological advancements exclusively. Everyday tasks that used to take a baby boomer a distinct amount of time to accomplish has been drastically shortened by the use of mobile apps or 3D printing to accomplish the same task, and younger generations have adapted these realities as a constant in their lives with ease.
Take, for example, telecommunications. Baby boomers grew up with the landline telephone, multiple landlines and cordless phones as an appliance. Millennials see a desktop, laptop and smartphone with instant messaging as an appliance. And finally, the generations even younger already see their mobile devices including wearables that allow them to communicate often with only emojis as an appliance. We all categorize, but the categorization is changing with the times.
So, with the changes in manufacturing jobs, how different generations adapt to technology and what they consider success to be is quite different. Plus, the fact that many baby boomers are not retiring out of their jobs as fast as younger generations are starting in the same industries, putting an additional strain on the generational divide. First, we need to define what success actually means. Does success mean loving what you do, but not necessarily doing something specific? The future of success, to the generations entering the workforce, has much to do with how much they love what they do, rather than just getting a job. The baby boomer generation measured success much differently; however, if they plan on staying successful in their jobs, they must become more open-minded with these trends and, more importantly, end the categorizations that further the divide between the young and the old.
All generations need to rely on each other more than ever before, as life expectancy is much longer than generations prior, meaning more generations will be working together for the first time in our history. While young generations may learn about “the old school work ethic” from past generations, older generations can and should learn from younger generations about how to apply new tools, think out of the box, and reinvent the industries they are in, especially our example of manufacturing.
For example, automation is getting more intelligent, capable, and widespread whether we like it or not, and those back-breaking, repetitive jobs discussed earlier will be increasingly taken over by machines. This shouldn’t be viewed as a bad thing; however, many of the older generation worry about losing their jobs to robots, and feel that technology may make us weak or lazy, whereas the younger generation is learning in real time how to embrace this change and find careers alongside it. Radically new innovation isn’t something to fear, though older generations do tend to fear it rather than embrace it, learn from it, and adapt to it.
The same can be said for older generations teaching younger generations about their work ethic and the importance of integrity, trust, and how to earn those things in the workforce. Their gold is their experience. Forty years of experience can’t be taught via YouTube or a TED talk. But it can be taught in on-the-job communication, collaboration, and mentoring with a younger worker who’s just starting out in manufacturing. Some things automation will not replace, and all generations can learn to thrive in the future from each other.
Because we are going to spend the rest of our lives, both professional and personal, in the future, perhaps we should spend some time identifying the future facts, the hard trends that are shaping the future. You should be asking yourself questions about how your career is evolving, how we as humans are evolving, how can I embrace new technology as easily as I embraced the technology I grew up with, and how can I have an open mind and learn from different generations instead of categorizing everything as old or new, useful or useless, successful or not, and so on. This can change the dynamic of the manufacturing workforce, embracing new technology as it comes, but also learning from the past to foresee potential problems of the future and pre-solving them before they happen. Are you anticipating the future of your career? If you want to learn more about the changes that are ahead and how to turn them into an advantage by becoming anticipatory, pick up a copy of my latest book, The Anticipatory Organization.
If you need help getting started, try my Hard Trend Methodology, which is the mindset I describe in my latest book, The Anticipatory Organization: Turn Disruption and Change into Opportunity and Advantage.
Byline: Daniel Burrus is considered one of the world’s leading technology forecasters and innovation experts. He is the CEO of Burrus Research, a research and consulting firm that monitors global advances in technology driven trends to help clients profit from technological, social and business forces that are converging to create enormous, untapped opportunities.He is a strategic advisor to executives helping them to develop game-changing strategies based on his proven methodologies for capitalizing on technology innovations. He is the author of seven books, including The New York Times bestseller Flash Foresight, and his latest book The Anticipatory Organization.To Order FREE book: Visit https://www.anticipatoryorganization.com/get-the-book
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