After I posted a comment recently about the impact of generational differences in veterinary medicine, Dr. Patty Khuly over at Dolittler (a veterinary blog for pet lovers, vet voyeurs, and the medically curious) inquired about a magazine article I wrote that
never got published. An edited version appears on her blog today: It’s Not Gender … Stupid. While the examples are all veterinary, the lessons about why Baby Boomers are the way they are and why Gen-Xers are
the way they are apply to any workplace. I didn’t go into it, but
it also changes how clients from different generations interact with
their veterinarians.
For example, Gen-X people are far less likely to treat any doctor or any authority figure with a paternalistic mindset. Instead, we (and I do mean “we” since I’m a classic, classic Gen-Xer) do our own research, we question advice, we want to know why, etc. For a Baby Boomer doctor, that often feels like someone questioning their authority or their expertise, but that’s not at all how it’s intended.
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