At the risk of undermining my cultural credentials, I hereby admit that I was just introduced to NBC’s The Office by my 15-year old son. It’s witty, well-written and I love the fact that it, mercifully, has no laugh track to inform you of what’s funny. Above all, I am impressed by how accurately it captures the unique perspectives of all three generations: Millennials, Gen X and Boomers.
Gen X: Pam Beasley and Jim Halpert are Gen X’ers — and the only sane people in the office. Jim and Pam alone are able to see the humor of each situation. Both are hard working but not that ambitious. They willing to sacrifice career advantage for personal happiness (continue to work in the same office). They reject the idea that Dunder Mifflin is their ‘career’.
Boomer: Michael Scott, Manager of the Scranton office of Dunder Mifflin, is thoroughly Boomer. His personal identity is deeply connected to his co-workers and his career. He is so earnest about cultural issues in the work place that he inevitably behaves inappropriately whenever there is a racial, gender or privacy issue. He embarasses his younger staff members, and they don’t respect his abilities, but love him all the same for being a ‘nice guy’.
Millennial: Ryan Howard embodies the Millennial point of view. He is disdainful and incredulous of Michael’s seeming ineptitude. He starts as a temp, but his MBA and careful cultivation of upper management, catapaults him to the position of Regional Manager at corporate in New York. This move makes Ryan Michael Scott’s boss (a Millennial fantasy if ever there was one!). Once in the job, Ryan unleashes a series of well-intended, but disruptive, technology initiatives (web site, PowerPoint training, Blackberry’s. He fails to grasp the impact of his heavy-handed ways which causes opinion about Ryan to shift from tolerated to actively disliked.
The Office portrays real generational tensions. Michael thinks Jim is ‘lazy’.
Michael: “I can spend all day on a project and he can do the same project in 30 minutes, so that should tell you something!”
Jim does not aspire to be like his boss, Michael.
Jim: “I think of this as my job. If rose any higher this would be my career, and then I’d have to throw myself in front of train.”
Ryan’s introduction of Michael to his MBA class makes it clear he thinks Michael is a loser.
In telling it like it is, The Office reveals a truth about intergenerational work relationships: the generations don’t have to respect each other’s abilities or understand each others’ values to care for one another as human beings and pull together for the common good. We could all learn a lot from The Office.
