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We are framed by our generation, not defined by it. In this personal piece Alastair Greener explains the idea behind his work, why generational insight is useful as a lens and dangerous as a label, and what the data says. 75% of UK workers see age differences at work, yet on many measures the generations barely differ. He sets out his five principles and what 16 years leading teams at sea taught him.
We are framed by our generation, not defined by it. I have said that sentence on stages, in boardrooms, in my book and on my podcast, and I have yet to find a better way of putting the idea that sits under everything I do. This is where I try to explain it properly.
A frame is the edge of the picture. The years you were born into set the edge: the technology you learned first, the economy you started work in, the news that was on when you were 15. Nobody escapes their frame. But the frame is not the picture, and if you judge a person by their frame you will get the picture wrong almost every time.
I am not one of those who say generations do not exist. The evidence that people of different ages behave differently is strong, and our research adds to it. In our Communication Habits and Preferences 2024 survey of 4,067 people in the UK, 75% of workers said the way people think and behave at work varies with age. That figure was almost identical whichever generation was answering: 75% of 18 to 21 year olds, 77% of Baby Boomers. Communication style was the most cited difference, at 51%.
The differences are real. 47% of the Silent Generation would phone friends and family first; 19% of Generation Z would. 85% of Gen Z leave voice notes; 60% of the Silent Generation never have. 45% of Gen Z workers want feedback at least weekly; 17% of Baby Boomers want it once a year. A manager who ignores all of that is not open-minded. They are careless.
The lens matters most for one reason. 71% of Gen Z agree they find it easier to communicate and connect with people close to their own age, against 36% of Baby Boomers. The youngest people in your organisation find the bridge hardest to cross, so the experienced side has to build it, and you cannot build a bridge to a place you have not looked at.
Now the other half. Look at the questions where the generations agree, and there are many. 80% of Gen Z, 83% of Millennials, 82% of Gen X and 86% of Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation say they like to reach a decision carefully after weighing up alternatives. 79% of Gen Z and between 71% and 73% of every other generation are interested to find out what other people think. 99% of Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X send text messages. 61% of the Silent Generation use WhatsApp.
Or take the stereotypes head on. The teenager who never answers the phone: 36% of Gen Z would accept a call from an unknown number, the highest of any generation; Gen X are the most wary at 24%. The lazy young worker: 81% of 18 to 21 year olds are ambitious to move up, against 20% of Baby Boomers. The out-of-touch Boomer: 98% send email, the same as Gen X. Every one is a label, and every one fails when tested.
That is what I mean by dangerous. A label tells you that you already know someone. Once you think you know someone you stop listening, and once you stop listening the communication has failed, whatever the age gap. Our Generations in the Workplace Study 2023 found that only 6% of HR managers rate friction between age groups as a major challenge, while 66% see communication between generations as a challenge to efficiency. The generations do not dislike each other. They misread each other.
For the first time in history, eight generations are alive at the same time: the Greatest Generation, the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, Generation Z, Generation Alpha and, since 2025, Generation Beta. Four of them are working side by side. Our generations guide sets out the birth years we use, which follow the Pew Research Center, and why someone born on a boundary is a cusper rather than a member of either camp.
Gillian White, a self-described Gen X cusper, put this better than I can on the podcast in Don't box me in: why stereotypes fail across generations. Dr Lynda Shaw, a behavioural neuroscientist, explained why we misread other age groups in The science behind why we struggle to understand other generations.
When organisations ask me what to do about all this, I give them five principles rather than a policy. Curiosity: ask before you assume. Listening: the data tells you where to start, the person tells you where to go. Non-judgement: a different habit is not a worse one. Avoiding comparison: "in my day" ends a conversation rather than starting one. Accepting difference: you do not have to adopt someone's preferences to respect them.
They are not complicated. They are hard, because each asks you to give up the comfort of knowing.
I spent 16 years leading entertainment departments at sea for Princess Cruises and Cunard, latterly as Cruise Director on QE2, Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth. My teams were 90 to 100 people from every generation and many countries, and the guests were the same. A show that landed with one age group and lost another was a failed show, and the feedback arrived within the hour.
What I learned was not a set of rules for each generation. It was that the people who worked best across ages were the ones curious about the person in front of them. They treated a generation as a place to start, never a verdict. Much of my book began on those decks; the rest of the story is on the about page.
When I speak to an audience, the aim is the same every time: to make people laugh in recognition at their own generation, then do the same for a generation they had written off. Once a room has done both, the labels loosen. Then we can look at the data from our two studies and work out what to do on Monday morning. That is the keynote, and the whole of the idea.
We are all framed by our generation. The frame is worth understanding. It is just not the picture.
It means the era you were born into shapes your habits, references and expectations (the frame), but does not decide who you are (the picture). Generational insight is useful as a starting point for understanding someone and harmful when it becomes a label that stops you listening to the individual.
Yes, but smaller than the stereotypes. 75% of UK workers in our 2024 survey say thinking and behaviour at work vary by age, and channels such as voicemail and voice notes differ sharply by generation. On other measures, such as wanting to hear other people's views or reaching decisions carefully, the generations sit within a few points of each other.
They can be, because a stereotype tells you that you already know someone. Our data contradicts most of the common ones: 36% of Gen Z would answer an unknown number, more than any generation; 81% of 18 to 21 year olds are ambitious to move up; 98% of Baby Boomers use email. Once you stop listening, communication fails.
Curiosity, listening, non-judgement, avoiding comparison and accepting difference. Ask before you assume, let the person rather than their age tell you where to go, treat a different habit as different rather than worse, avoid "in my day" comparisons, and respect preferences you do not share. They apply to families as much as organisations.
Book Alastair to bring "framed, not defined" to your conference or leadership team.
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