(response number one to the above post)
Subj: Re: New Member
Date: 98-06-30 12:40:19 EDT
From:
nlarge@indiana.edu (Nathan Large)
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On Mon, 29 Jun 1998, Bob Filipczak wrote:
I'm not going to pretend I haven't got an agenda. I do. Up till recently I was
a business journalist for a trade magazine that went out to corporate
trainers. Along the way, I got to do some very cool stories. The only one that
put me on the charts, however, was a little piece called "It's Just a Job:
Generation X at Work" in April 1994. It got mentioned in a lot of national
newspapers and got me a bit of attention.
<genx cliche> DANGER, Will Robinson, DANGER! </genx cliche off>
Seriously, just this paragraph set off little blinking alarm
lights all over my mental space. "Business Journalist"? "Trade
Magazine"? "Corporate trainers"?!?!
So that's where you come in, if you're willing. The book is called,
tentatively, "Old Farts and Upstarts: Managing across the generations" and
there are three co-authors: me, the GenX representative, Claire Raines, the
Boomer rep and Ron Zemke, the GI Joe Gen spokesperson.
The warning lights are still blinking full-strength. Can you see
your co-authors, or do you just have to talk to the boxes they're in?
So, since you all seem verbally active and more than a little fun to follow, I
could just lurk here and pick up tidbits and, more importantly, ambiance....
This would be preferred...
Or I could throw out questions over the next two months, quizzing, survey and
generally making a pest of myself in order to get this book done and move on
to more important things. I choose the latter.
I think you'll find that we reject the latter. Frequently. Ever
study anthropology? One of the recurring themes is that a 'culture'
reacts negatively to outsiders barging about, asking questions, and
getting into everything without showing respect for their society and
traditions. A mailing list, particularly one like this one, may not be
quite so complex, but there are traditions and a 'society'. The more
appropriate, and frankly, more successful, method of observation would be
the former, to join the society, learn from within, and observe without
making your presence obvious. Even if you are already part of a society,
self-examination isn't pleasant at times.
Besides, if you just give us questionairres and surveys, we might
just LIE. Ever notice how the first wave of 'Gen-X' articles was full of
total bullshit? Folks on a deadline, accepting whatever they were told by
some skater-slacker-noseringed-20something, and printing the greatest
misinformation campaign of the decade. The sad thing is, the conformist
mass of teens bought into it... and the joke backfired.
For the record: I'm pro-union, pro dog castration (Twas such a good idea, I
thought, that I got myself a vasectomy), and currently pro-stituting my skills
for a regional brokerage firm in Minneapolis. I'm on my second marriage, I've
got two big dogs that drag me around the neighborhood and I'm a serious writer
of fiction. My poetry should never be left in an open container and I ride a
moped to work every morning until the snow flies.
I'd stick to the fiction, myself, but that's my reading
preference. As soon as I started working, nonfiction reading became too
much work - I can't read anything factual without taking it apart and
examining the arguments and questioning the data.
Finally, the reason I got attention for the 94 article is, I think, because it
was the first piece in the popular media to portray our generation in a
positive light. I myself am 36, so I'm right on the cusp, but have always
identified with this group and will continue to do so. If any of you wants an
e-mail copy of the article I wrote four years ago (edited by Boomers, you can
tell), e-mail me a message privately and I'll send it to you.
Positive lights are good, when appropriate. My beef is with
the phrase 'portray our generation'. To accurately do that, without
pulling out the Little Boxes, you have to go into some significant
details. Apologies for the sarcasm above if unwarranted, but the phrases
'corporate trainers' and 'trade magazine' just don't scream "Complex,
insightful analysis" to me.
Nathan
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