Intergenerational reflections – part 1
I was surprised to discover that I have now written just over a quarter of a million words in the recent years and, as one does at the end of a year and at the start of a new one (all-too-soon!), I felt that it was about time to reflect on what drives me forward.
I’ve been living, researching, and carrying an intergenerational flag ever since my psychology/pedagogy education back in the ’80s. As a result, I have seen and shared knowledge as a source for good at every point in my growth.
I grew up under a totalitarian regime which valued conformity and had virtually no concern for the individual . . . unless you were ‘one of them’ or ‘those from above’.
An interesting thing happened early when we were re-allocated to a new school – literally overnight. My father did not want me to go to the newly prescribed ‘from above’ and, rather, took me to another school where I had not been enrolled. I sat at the back of the class for a week or so and, eventually, my name was added to the register on the assumption that somebody had made an administrative error. (I wrote about it here)
Life progressed and I loved school and the associated activities (stage, ballet, etc.). The only hiccup in sixth form was having no alternative but to learn the accordion as the pianos was reserved for the children of ‘those from above’. It was a pedagogical college (teacher-training) and, as I progressed through the years, I got caught up in character forming and training: i.e. understanding personality and how matching behaviour to the context in hand is possible while staying true to one’s own values.
My journey began with a four-year research project based on the development of a young boy: this, eventually, led to a profession I have loved throughout. Ever since, I have built on those rewarding interactions with higher age groups – from teenagers to executives, and on to ageless professionals.
Later on, as a university graduate, I was invited back to my college to set up a new syllabus and content direction in education after the 1989 Romanian revolution. The excitement and honour of being given a blank cheque to introduce a brand-new discipline to 15- to 18-year-olds in a highly competitive college was unrivalled by anything I had previously experienced.
This laid the foundation for my risk-taking when, at 29, I set up a fully digital data science company in the, then, non-existing knowledge economy – even before the internet. It was the first-ever Joint Venture Company between the United Kingdom and Romania.
Those early foundations also helped with my interactions in business – from setting up the technology transfer, training new people (mainly students in their final year at university) and helping them along their path to executive roles to promote a new domain (digital geography) and its applicability. It all relied on intergenerational work: we had 18-year-olds and 70-year-olds – and all ages in between. The team was diligently working in small and well-lit rooms, and we even had to perch a workstation* on the bathtub for lack of space when our growth rocketed!
* Some of the more mature readers may remember those huge VAX-VMS workstations networked with 50-ohm coaxial cable!
Indeed, HRH Prince Charles was very amused to see it on his very first visit to Romania.
Developing practical geo-demographic data and insights in the emerging ‘New Europe’ provided a major contribution to mission-critical economic developments. Within a few years, this enormous risk translated into a highly competitive advantage. The terms ‘big data’, ‘machine learning’, and ‘behavioural economics’ hadn’t been invented at that time – but that was exactly what we were working on in 1993. We had built >20M x 198 (>4 x 109) data points to play with – so it wasn’t ‘big data’, it was ‘enormous data’ for that period.
Characterising the local demographics as ‘New wave energy’ and ‘Marginalised but hopeful’ (in Romanian, of course) was much more meaningful than discussing age ranges, Gen-X, or other such generational descriptors which have zero cultural intelligence. In the early 2000s, the top financial organisations weren’t even recognising the 55+ as ‘segments’ for their products – even including the insurance industry! We had to educate and change mindsets to literally exist as a business.
For a few very rewarding years, I co-chaired (together with the World Economic Forum’s ‘Head of Europe’) the Leadership and Collaboration Group in the EU Strategic Policy Forum. We delivered a blueprint for ‘Cities as launchpads for digital transformation’. This has now been deployed in over 100 cities across Europe and is going from strength to strength. Inevitably, with Brexit, these responsibilities came to an end.
Subsequently, and for a few more years, together with a group of business leaders, we defined the training requirements for the data analytics profession – now published as a Standard by the UK Department of Education.
A few months after the pandemic, a former professor of mine (who instilled my intellectual appetite for cross-cultural management matters) asked me to peer review his new book. This made me realise how, as an early entrepreneur, I missed the value of a robust peer community and the associated connections. He graciously took notice of what I had to say; some things were reflections on the lessons I had learned in my post-graduate life (i.e. life as a young entrepreneur); these thoughts triggered my personal realisation of how useful it would have been to me to have had these as part of a more structured education for MBAs and EMBAs alike. Such is the power of inter-generational learning!
Of late, I have been indulging in an intellectual exploration with my former academic supervisor: this has resulted in an uncomplicated and respectful humanity in the relationship. The recent thrill of unscrambling my 30+ year old dissertation and realising how far we have come, but also how much there is to be done on topics such as resilient leadership (which is not restricted to gender!) in volatile environments; also, cultural intelligence and the value of an integrated leadership image – as in behaviour, communication and, to some extent, appearance.
I realised how much I have been unconsciously aligning my research methodology with my earlier entrepreneurial learning. With a phenomenological approach, backed up by ethnographic case studies (stories), I thrive on action research with increasingly less theoretical filtering. The grounded theory and the development of image capital are also uncannily aligned within my work on female entrepreneurs, with a high level of independence and poise, also with a certain level of intellectual detachment and, overall, how they make decisions.
One significant shift has occurred in my definition of culture: from my thesis of 30+ years ago, it was ‘How nations solve problems’. Now my choice of definition is ‘The training and refinement of mind, taste, and manners’ – and how these impacts on behaviour, communication, decision-making and, overall, value creation.
I took a generalist route when I started my first business. However, my transferable skills have built-up ever since, and for over six years, I have applied design thinking and my data science expertise to my new change and image management consultancy (both physical and online). We have now set up a highly adaptable framework, supported by digital tools, for exploring patterns in behaviours, communication and appearance to help re-design new paths and to address new goals.
As in my first data science business, there is nothing we classify or even predict; rather, we let the data talk. Character analysis (i.e. behaviour, communication, etc.) is the name of our game. I still like the proverb: ‘Data analysts don’t die; they just get broken down by age’.
Stories, old and new, will always be nuggets of gold in how we address new challenges as history tends to repeat itself. I also feel blessed to come from a culture that respects elders: in Romania, we have a saying that ‘If you do not have an old one in the family, you should buy yourself one’. Much like the Japanese.
Most importantly, and by far, I am one of the luckiest people on earth to have a non-stereotyped cross-cultural family of four generations with multiple and diverse talents and disciplines: they run industry boards, international consultancy, design practices and family businesses curated by younger women. We are all learning new things: still learning from each other, telling stories, taking the word onwards into action, solving problems about evolution, and more. We diverge to converge and adapt, and the net is always positive.
I would also add to my luck of being connected to a geopolitical area where the ‘can do’ attitude is mind-blowing*, at least by comparison to some western societies where rage and dissatisfaction seem to prevail.
* Contrary to some stereotypes, modern Romania is bursting with positivity: things get done, people smile, and there is culture with substance for all ages and all sections of society.
Where do we go from here?
We need this type of ambition, leadership, and energy which appears to be lacking in certain industries where silos continue to thrive. For those of us that can, we need to manage and orchestrate that change, otherwise indifference and invisibility will perpetuate.
I have shared these experiences openly as they underpin what I aim to achieve in various interactions including teaching, mentoring, consultancy, workshops and more.
Continued in part 2….