Do You Ever Feel Culturally Outdated?

Do You Ever Feel Culturally Outdated?

I do!

I recently went back home in Chicago at the same time as one of my oldest friends. We met for breakfast and as I was modifying my order, I made a joke to the waitress (who was definitely younger than me) that I was just like Sally.

She laughed appropriately but then I thought to ask, “Do you know who Sally is?” – she didn’t.

For those of you who get it right away – yes I am the “always-modifying-the-menu-orderer” like Sally in “When Harry Met Sally.” If you don’t get it – classic movie – worth watching!

My friend and I started talking about references we use that younger people don’t necessarily understand – Monty Python anyone?

And did you catch the news that on October 21st last month we finally reached the exact date that Marty and Doc travelled forward to all those years ago?

Cultural references and shared understanding can be a subtle dynamic in the workplace. I’ve recently done some work with a leadership team that combined millennials and Gen Xers – some workplaces can find this age diversity leads to a lack of mutual understanding about how to behave in the workplace and what to expect from each other.

Whether your group/department/org is filled with people just like you or a is model of multi-cultural-ism and diversity, the chances are that the more you progress in your career, the more likely you are to find people who don’t share your frame of reference. The hardest part of this can be realizing that you DO have a frame of reference and it’s not necessarily the truth.

In service of finding your search for truth and (shared) meaning, I have a complimentary download that highlights ways to communicate to create more clarity. Click here to download it now.