If you live in The United States today and were born sometime between 1960 and 1989 (these dates are just a reference but they might get your attention) you could throw your self into one of two buckets generationally speaking. You either feel more closely attuned with the Millennial group or with the smaller sandwich generation known as GenX. Age doesn’t really have to be the identifier of which of these groups you feel more comfortable with its really more about how you think, feel, and see yourself fitting into the world.

So to put buckets into buckets the Millennial group tends to be drawn more to the city and want a life style of little commute to where things are happening. They want to have a living area where there is no need to do yard work or what could be called the maintenance free live style. As for a work life Millennials feel more productive with making their own schedule or having more autonomy to get the job done.

GenXers tend to still look at some of the characteristics that trickled down from their Baby Boomer predecessors. They take away ideas of loyalty (this doesn’t mean that Millennials are not loyal but can be much more flexible in their alliances), work more comfortably in a 9 to 5 window but with a more flexible outlook on when they can get the job done, and will tend to be drawn more to the city but with the idea of still owning their property and maintaining it themselves.

With these difference in characteristics being thrown out there it doesn’t mean that one of these “life styles” is the way to go, nor is one better than the other. The point is we are all different no matter how we choose to live. The idea is that individuals of many different backgrounds or life style choices are coming together to create this thing that’s happening right outside your window. I just think that a fresh look is always good and that having a team of different opinions just makes the entity stronger in the long run. With the Boomers leaving the stage,  Millennials taking on Top Leadership positions for the first time (sorry this is an age range reference even though I try to stay away from them), and GenXers falling somewhere in the middle we should all see that it will take a little effort to get these groups to effectively work together. But the end results of diverse, creative, and positive focused teams is the substance of our future.