Although it's important to get people of all ages on the same page with technology in today's workforce, the issue becomes really important over the next 10 years. Right now, organizational leadership roles that correlate to experience and seniority are monopolized by Boomers (age 46-62); mid-career managerial and emerging leadership positions typically filled by folks from 28-45 correspond exactly to the age-bracket of Generation X; and Millennials under 28 provide the majority of entry-level workers. See chart 1 below:

The lack of significant overlap between roles and generations creates a relatively rare moment of "total eclipse" where the values of the senior generation appear to be the norm, against which other attitudes are measured. In a Boomer monoculture, it can be tempting for leaders to view priorities and workstyles of GenX managers and Millennial workers as organizational problems in need of a solution. "How do we get more work out of these troublesome kids?" "How are we going to instill some loyalty in our middle managers so we have a leadership pipeline for the future?" In both of those questions, it's clear who "we" are and who "they" are.

But fast-forward ten years, and suddenly the picture becomes a little messier.

At the entry level, the youngest Millennials - likely to be even more collectivist in their thinking than the leading edge of the generation and more dependent on technology to supplement their knowledge and capabilities- will be rubbing shoulders with large numbers of "Boomerang Boomers" re-entering the workforce for social and economic reasons. Many of these older workers will be coming to information work jobs after long careers in education, manufacturing, logistics, or service jobs that did not involve much exposure to technology. The challenge of managing this dichotomous mixture will fall to large numbers of older Millennials and younger Xers in mid-level roles, who will have to find ways to reconcile their different work methods and expectations to keep their organizations running smoothly. Finally, while many Boomers will cling to leadership positions well into their 60s and even 70s, their numbers will inevitably be diluted by more and more Generation X-ecutives, plus a large cohort of fast-track Millennials already taking leadership roles in their mid-30s.

In this blended workforce, it will be much less clear what constitutes "normal" cultural expectations and a "normal" workstyle, because the generations will have a much more equal claim to the different roles within the organization. Everything from how and when people work, to the tools and practices of information work, to the amount of feedback and compensation each worker receives, will have to be negotiated and tailored more individually to the worker, role, and organization.

How these uncertainties play out is one of the big themes of my work, starting with Generation Blend, but probably extending to the writing that I do for the rest of this year on this site and for publication and presentation elsewhere.