Intergenerational alliance, breaking barriers and moving forward

A subtle tension permeated the open office space on the third floor of the foundation's headquarters. Twenty-five-year-old programmer Alicia stood before a smart whiteboard, fluidly presenting a prototype of her "metacognitive training" game. Her presentation was energetic, yet frequently interrupted by questions.

"Isn't this gamification design too frivolous?" Sarah, the HR director, pushed her glasses up. "Many of our clients are adults who have experienced trauma. They need professional, steady help."

Alicia took a deep breath. "Data shows that less than 30% of Generation Z accept traditional psychological counseling. If we don't change the format, we're going to lose an entire generation."

When the sharpness of new life collides with the weight of experience, sparks and friction always occur at the same time.

This kind of situation is increasingly common within the foundation. Younger staff embrace agile working methods and are accustomed to discussing projects while walking around in open spaces. Senior staff, on the other hand, insist on comprehensive project planning and documentation. This communication gap is impacting productivity and even hindering innovation.

Cheng Han was acutely aware of this problem. On a Friday afternoon, he received three resignation letters simultaneously—from outstanding young employees in three different departments. Their reasons for leaving were strikingly similar: they felt their creativity was undervalued and their work styles were overly restricted.

“We are repeating the mistakes all mature organizations make,” Cheng Han said bluntly at a management meeting. “We are limiting future possibilities by using past successes.”

Meanwhile, Nila made an interesting discovery in a Sami community in the Arctic Circle: Elderly reindeer herders were teaching younger people how to use drones to track reindeer, while the younger people were teaching the elders how to use social media to sell traditional handicrafts.

"They call it 'wisdom exchange,'" Neela shared during the video conference. "No one feels this is a compromise of tradition. Instead, they think it's the best way to keep ancient wisdom alive."

This discovery inspired the foundation to launch the "Intergenerational Alliance" program, but the program encountered setbacks in its first week.

It is easy to understand gaps, but difficult to build bridges.

The first "intergenerational dialogue workshop" almost ended in acrimony. Young employees complained about "too rigid processes," while senior employees felt the younger generation "lacked patience and respect." The meeting room was filled with opening remarks like "your generation," as if they were from different planets.

The turning point came from an unintentional act by Alicia. She discovered that a process in the financial system could be automated to save significant time, so she took the initiative to write a script. This move could have caused even greater conflict, but it unexpectedly earned the appreciation of David, the CFO.

"I've worked in finance for 20 years, and I never thought I could optimize processes this way," 62-year-old David said sincerely. "Can you teach me?"

This request broke the impasse. Alicia not only taught David how to use the script but also learned from him the design logic of the foundation's financial system. Their collaboration spawned an innovative project: gamifying the tedious financial training process, reducing the training time for new employees from two weeks to three days.

When the gap becomes complementarity, the estrangement turns into advantage.

Inspired by this, Cheng Han reorganized the "Metacognitive Training" project team. He specifically arranged for "age-gap pairs": Alicia and Sarah became partners, and there were five other pairs with age differences of more than 20 years.

The initial adjustment was still difficult. Sarah thought Alicia's ideas were "out of the box," while Alicia thought Sarah was "too conservative." But under the pressure of completing the project together, they began to truly listen to each other.

“I understand you’re concerned about professionalism,” Alicia said after one discussion, “but can you tell me, based on your years of experience, what form of communication is most effective in impressing the clients you serve?”

Sarah pondered for a moment. "It's not a technical term, but a sincere understanding. I remember a case..."

This conversation became a turning point. Alicia began to understand the emotional logic behind form, and Sarah learned to appreciate the value of new forms. Together, they designed a solution that retained professional depth while also possessing a format that appealed to young people.

Meanwhile, Kadir's grassroots "reverse mentoring" program, where younger employees teach senior employees how to use digital tools and senior employees share their valuable experience, has been surprisingly successful.

"I learned how to use data analysis to evaluate project effectiveness," said a project manager who has worked at the foundation for 20 years. "And my younger partner learned from me how to read subtle signals from people."

The best learning happens when both parties are willing to put aside their prejudices.

Three months into the project, Li Xiaoyu was invited to participate in an intergenerational co-creation event. She didn't give a speech, but instead quietly observed how employees of different generations collaborated.

At the end of the event, she shared an observation:

“I’ve noticed that younger colleagues bring new tools and approaches, while senior colleagues provide judgment and direction. It’s like rowing a boat – the young provide the power, and the seniors steer the boat. You can’t do both without them.”

This statement captures the essence of an intergenerational alliance: it's not about replacing one another, but about each leveraging its strengths to jointly achieve results that neither side could achieve alone.

The most significant change occurred in the foundation's recruitment policy. The newly established "diverse team" no longer simply relies on qualifications or academic qualifications, but deliberately seeks a combination of different backgrounds and generations.

"We realized," said Sarah, our human resources director, at a briefing on the new policy, "that solving complex problems requires diverse perspectives. And generational differences are the most valuable part of that diversity."

Alicia now often has lunch with David. One of them talks about the latest technology trends, while the other shares the foundation's legacy story. This exchange has spawned many innovative ideas.

"I used to think the older employees were a hindrance," Alicia admitted. "Now I understand they're the guardrails that keep us from going astray."

David smiled and said, "Young people are the engine that drives us forward."

At the quarterly summary meeting, Cheng Han presented an exciting set of data: teams adopting an intergenerational collaboration model had three times the number of innovative proposals as traditional teams, a 40% increase in project success rate, and employee satisfaction reached a record high.

"We used to worry that generational differences would lead to division," Cheng Han concluded. "But in reality, when we guide them in the right way, differences become the most powerful source of innovation."

As night fell, the lights in the headquarters gradually came on. In a corner of the open office, Alicia and David were still discussing a new project plan. Outside the window, the neon lights of the city mingled with the cool glow of the smart devices inside, a metaphor for the blending of wisdom from different generations in this era.

Cheng Han stood at his office window, watching this heartwarming scene unfold. He knew that intergenerational dialogue would never end, and conflicts might still arise. But as long as we maintain an open mind and a spirit of mutual respect, the foundation can remain vibrant amidst constant change, allowing the wisdom of every era to find its place in our shared cause.

In this era of accelerated change, perhaps the greatest stability lies not in clinging to tradition, but in finding a rhythm in which the old and the new dance together. And tonight, he was convinced that the Foundation had found that rhythm.

"The passing of the torch is not a simple handover, but the burning of new and old firewood together to make the flame burn brighter."