Daily Archives: April 15, 2021

Weve all noticed it different generations bring different beliefs and behaviours to work. Boomers complaining about millennials for not using apostrophes properly, Gen Z making fun of Millennials for their avocado toast and coffee obsessions, Gen Xs hedonism getting out of control at the Christmas party, that sort of thing.

We are living and working longer, and we are healthier, which means we are staying in the workforce beyond the retirement age. The UKs Department for Work and Pensions says men are working until 65 (up 2 years since 2000), and women are working four years later to over 64.

The state pension age will reach 67in 2028. A review is looking at raising the judiciarys retirement age to 75 to balance expertise, demand and diversity so that we dont lose experienced judges from the judicial system too early.

Many older people are more motivated to keep working longer research shows that retiring isnt always good for us because work keeps us connected, stimulated and learning.For some, working later is not always a choice many feel they cant afford to retire, and have to keep working to support themselves later in life.

Building a positive culture in an intergenerational team requires deliberate and open discussion. It isn't automatically easy to work in a diverseteam

Workplaces are not only getting older, they are getting younger too. Companies worry that graduates are not always workplace ready, which has led to increasing popularity of internships and apprenticeships. This means higher numbers of younger employees are likely to be in the office to learn on the job earlier.

Age brings positive diversity

Diversity of any sort makes teams perform better, so an intergenerational workforce can bring real commercial and team building strengths. We know that older team members have valuable life experience and advice to give, and younger team members raise awareness of important issues like environmental impact and unconscious bias to the benefit of everyone.

However, building a positive culture in an intergenerational team requires deliberate and open discussion. It isn't automatically easy to work in a diverseteam. Because we come from different backgrounds, we may not easily agree on the right ways of working well together.

It may be, for example, that the Millennial in the team doesnt want to be the IT support all the time, and so asks everyone to contact IT instead, or that the older team members need to stop getting so upset about misuse of apostrophes if communication is clear and professional otherwise.

Every age diverse team needs to consciously decide how they want to create a positive working culture, with agreed rules of engagement that suit the individuals in that team.

Hire for attitude

You dont hire for skills, you hire for attitude. You can always teach skills. Simon Sinek

In a recent interview, a 30-year-old manager of a marketing team of 10 who happens to be the youngest person on her team, when asked about how she manages intergenerational issues, she pointed out that its all about attitude, not age.

In her team, its about openness to learning, not how old you are, that makes you a great team member, especially now when so much is changing at work. Some of the older people on her team are her Gen Z consumer trends experts, and surprisingly some of her youngest team members are more reluctant to be trained in new skills.

No matter the topic of training, there will always be those who are eager to learn and improve how they work, and those who are reluctant to change, and it is more to do with personality and attitude than age. Michael Schrage, business author and MIT research fellow notes that elite sports teams are chosen not only for their existing talent, but their ability to be coached and improved, learning from the performance data.

More than ever before, this year has made us change and learn new skills look around at your teams, and you will notice that the people whove managed best have done so because of an openness to adapt, not how old they are.

Celebrating age diversity

Bigger companies in particular have a combination of generational cultures that can be difficult to manage. Like any culture clash, intergenerational working is bound to throw up some issues. Gen X have long stereotyped millennials as being entitled, millennials see older colleagues as being unable to grasp technology, and Gen Z enter the workforce ready to take all their colleagues to task on ethical issues.

The key to preventing this conflict, and enhancing the benefits of intergenerational working is to help people to value the complementary skills each brings to the table, rather than allowing their differences to become more entrenched.

More than ever we need to enable different generations at work to understand each other and appreciate each other's strengths, and work out how we agree to work better together to make the most of the different generations on the team.

In a world where we (quite rightly) look more towards recruiting, developing and supporting younger team members, lets not forget that we also need to keep supporting all ages in their work experience.

We have a duty to our older employees as well as our younger ones, to make sure all the generations at work benefit from the sharing of skills and experience, and bring the perspectives that make for better decision-making.

Age diversity is going to become increasingly more important and more visible in future, so lets give ourselves the permission to openly talk about how we want to better work together, to make sure we benefit from all the generations we have at work.

About the author

Pam Hamilton is author of Supercharged Teams, the 30 Tools of Great Teamwork.Join Pam Hamilton in conversation on how to choose the right team members in her latest webinar this Thursday. Sign up free here.

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Managing the four generational workplace - Training Journal

Lily-Rose Depp and Tye Sheridan in Voyagers. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate

The characters in Voyagers are the middle children of an 86-year colonization mission born on Earth but never really of it, and also unlikely to survive long enough to see the new planet theyre traveling toward. Their lives are slated to unfold almost entirely onboard the spaceship Humanitas, on which theyre both the crew and the future parents and grandparents of the eventual settlers. In an effort to make this regimented existence more tolerable, the planners behind the mission gestated their intergalactic travelers in a lab and raised them in a sealed facility so they wouldnt get attached to family or to the dying Earth theyd soon leave behind. The crew is also drugged with a substance they call blue that dulls their senses, makes them more biddable, and dampens their sex drives, which becomes relevant as the kids grow up into a bunch of dewy-skinned teenagers living in close quarters with no clue that their state of chaste docility is chemically enforced. Then two of their number, Christopher (Tye Sheridan) and Zac (Fionn Whitehead), figure it out and stop taking their daily doses, setting off a chain of events that throws the careful order of life onboard into chaos.

On one hand, the premise of Voyagers is a heady one, asking what gives a life meaning when its course is already set, and that same life has been surrendered in service of a future that wont be experienced. On the other, it offers all sorts of potential for soapy sci-fi shenanigans when the 30 crew members, a diverse group united in looking like they could at any moment star in a Gap ad, go cold turkey and are all plunged into hyperadolescence at the same time. But the film, which was written and directed by Neil Burger (of The Illusionist, Limitless, and more recently, The Upside), walks a fine line between the philosophical and the frothy, managing with impressive precision to avoid being smart or fun. There is, at least, a short, giddy window in which Christopher and Zac find themselves awakening to emotional and physical sensation, racing down the hallways, zapping their fingers with electricity, and noticing the same nubile colleague, Sela (Lily-Rose Depp). But Zac acts on his newfound attraction by groping Sela against her will, and then challenges Richard Alling (Colin Farrell), the ships lone adult, about why he cant just do whatever he pleases. Were just going to die in the end, so why cant we do what we want? Whats the difference whether were good or not?

Theres a sinking feeling accompanying the realization that, as Christopher and Zac start vying for leadership, Voyagers is becoming Lord of the Flies in space. Its not just that divisions form in predictable and dramatically inert ways, the performances universally flat and unengaging as one side rebels against the groups elected leader, giving into paranoia and opting for violence. Its also that, as the film goes on, theres a niggling sense that this futuristic retread of a familiar story is meant to say something about our moment about, say, tribalism and strongman leadership. After a mysterious accident leads to the death of a crew member, Zac goes from guy who just never thought about consent before to full-on villain, leveraging fears that theres an alien in the groups midst to position himself as a protector and to label anyone who speaks up against him a possible carrier. His turn toward the manipulative and brutal is written as taking place so abruptly that its impossible to grasp him as a character or to understand how hes able to take control so quickly. Rather than show the potential for both brutality and order in the human psyche, even in characters whove essentially started as blank slates, Voyagers ends up presenting Zac as an aberration leading the crew into a bout of hysterical overreaction. As allegories for the last few years go, its not one that offers much by way of compelling insight.

There have been a few noteworthy movies grappling with the idea of long-term space travel out in the past few years. Christopher Nolans Interstellar pitted a fathers conflicted desires against the nightmarish stresses of time dilation, his children getting older and older every minute hes away from Earth, decades slipping away. There was the dismal Passengers, the movie Voyagers most seems to want to echo, a movie about how the vastness of possible years in isolation makes the most inconceivable crimes forgivable. There was Claire Deniss High Life, equal parts sexy and repulsive, with its coerced crew of criminals hurtling resentfully toward a black hole. But the best recent film to pit the human lifetime against the impossible hugeness of space is the Swedish Aniara from 2018, which is about a luxury liner thats sent permanently off course on a routine trip taking passengers from Earth to Mars a kind of serious take on a scenario shared by Armando Iannuccis Avenue 5. As the years roll on in the film, the passengers embrace bursts of hedonism and develop new forms of spirituality and contend with all-consuming depression.

Its a film that might come to mind when watching Voyagers, not just because it actually digs into the possibilities of its premise, but because it really engages with the idea of a life lived in transit without a destination, and with the idea of how different that really is from the lives were living now. Voyagers, in keeping its focus where it does, feels like a waste not just because of how predictable its beats are, but because it ends just when it feels like its getting interesting.

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Movie Review: Voyagers, With Tye Sheridan and Lily-Rose Depp - Vulture

After one of the hardest winters of many of our lives, London sorely needed a pint.

And yesterday our wish was finally granted.

Following months of beign closed, pubs finally partly reopened allowing revellers to flock to their favourite boozer.

Except theres a twist.

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Pubs can only serve to tables outside, with a very limited number of space available compared to the hordes of thirsty Londoners.

So when I went down to Soho I was just one thirsty camel among many.

The pubs that were taking bookings were booked up to the hilt and ones that werent had long queues outside.

It was a strangely tense atmosphere with one woman calling me out for queue jumping in that smarmy way English people get about queues when I was just walking past on the busy pavement. .

Um excuse me theres actually a queue here

She was clearly thrilled at being able to get angry with someone after so many months cooped up for lockdown but it was a real shame she had gotten angry for little old me just walking past.

This over-excited queue-er wasnt the only one with some tension to work through.

Cheers from the crowd kept sweeping through the narrow streets of Soho and only later we realised where it started when someone dropped a glass.

Its a real testament to how highly strung English people are that when something breaks everyone can only just scream with glee.

In the busy alleys last night, where a festival vibe reigned, the cheers just kept going round and round the blocks like a noisy Mexican Wave.

Anyone who managed to get a pub table protected it with the savagery of a mumma bear so I ended up spending the evening just looking slightly lamely on with a can of beer in hand.

I did find space at one of those bar/restaurant type places you get so many of around there but they only sold canned beer and it was miles away from the frosty pint I was after.

Despite the happy drinkers last night didnt have the same wild hedonism that we saw after the end of the first lockdown.

Perhaps people have learnt a lesson after the misery of the second wave of Covid or maybe were just all out of practice.

Theres clearly far more hesitance to return to normal life than many shops and businesses need.

I think the scars of this pandemic are going to run far deeper than when this lockdown completely lifts.

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'I tried to get a pint without booking on the night pubs reopened and Im worried for London - My London

MoontypeBodies of WaterBORN YESTERDAY7/10

Moontype makes propulsive pop music that sounds like Sweet Trip covering Young Folks by Peter Bjorn and John. The Chicago solo-project-turned-trio took time carefully crafting their debut album Bodies of Water, making music together in a few different incarnations after meeting at Oberlin College before settling into their current form, one which specializes in math rock precision with earworm hooks. While its not shocking that the band has shared stages with artists like Peaer, Floatie, and Lina Tullgren, Moontypes knack for uplifting lyricism and energetic arrangements sets them apart from their peers.

Opening with what feels like a songs middle section, Anti-Divinity makes it clear from the jump that Moontype arent going to make you work hard to unearth the reward in their music. About You is as technically impressive as it is charming: Lookin at you with my fuck-me eyes / Do you wanna get inside of mine, Margaret McCarthy sings before confidently talking about wishing she could take molly with an old pal from tour. An ode to a long lost crush that blossomed into a friendship, the track is a humid summertime anthem. Brief-but-compelling, Alphas skittering, triplet-based intro gives way to frantic musicianship that simultaneously brings to mind Deerhoof and Gram Parsons. Even the records gentlest moments, Blue Michigan and Stuck on You, thrum with a magical fluorescence. Bodies of Water rarely stays still, but its appeal never tries to outrun the listener.

Tied together by warm production, every recorded sound on Bodies of Water feels like its within half a decibel of being in the red. The album employs a roaring dynamic that wouldnt be easy for most bands to pull off, but Moontype turns up the volume in a way that evokes drunkenly laughing at a well-worn joke. McCarthys vocals are occasionally obscured by jangling guitars and pounding drums, which give the record an ecstatic feeling like the one that comes from watching a band crush their set at a basement show.

At almost 45 minutes long, Bodies of Water meanders, especially in its final third. Certain Moontype-isms become apparent over the course of the record, too, as the band repeatedly contrast straightforward rock grooves with syncopated hits. McCarthys vocalizations can feel unvaried at times, her chirpy songwriting frequently jumping between octaves. Ultimately, these patterns are a commendable sign of consistency more than they are a bother. Moontype is a band with a well-honed sound. Its hard to fault them for playing the same tricks numerous times, considering they play them extremely well.

Bodies of Water is one of the most fun indie rock debuts in recent memory. Moontype are a band cool enough to have a bio written by Sad13/Speedy Ortizs Sadie Dupuis, who can still get away with writing songs about the simple desire to get fucked up and aimlessly walk around. Platonic companionship is the glue that holds Bodies of Water together. As a year of isolation comes to a close, the albums preoccupation with socializing and hedonism feels refreshing.

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FLOOD | Moontype, Bodies of Water - FLOOD Magazine

In season three of The Crown, Prince Philip is at the centre of a remarkable episode. The premise isan hour-long exploration of the fictionalised Philip'sobsession with the moon landings. The year is 1969, and after meeting the Apollo 11 astronauts atBuckingham Palace, Philip in his second iteration of the series, played by Tobias Menzies is unsatisfied. He realises that these astronauts are just ordinary men, unable to quell a deeper longing: for a faith in something higher than himself.

There is no evidence that such a spiritual longing ever affected the late Prince Philip, who died today, aged 99. While the early seasons of The Crown were initially praised for their accuracy, royal historians have since criticised the increasingly outlandish assumptions made by the shows writer Peter Morgan. Nevertheless, Morganhas been able to do something powerful:humanise Prince Philip more than any royal biography could. Outlandish or not, this fictional crisis of faith depicted a man who was not only human, but lonely.

This particular episode, titled Moondust, continueda long-standing theme within the series: Prince Philips loss of agency as a man within the royal household. Throughout the show, the Duke of Edinburgh of The Crown battleswith his role as the Queens second. In episode five of the first season, Matt Smith's Philiprefuses to kneel to his wife:a parody of a spoiled and angry man.

But like all good anti-heroes, the character is vindicated, at least in part. Peter Morgan helps us understand Philips childhood; spent at an austere boarding school with little kindness, emotionally distant from his mother, all links to his family severed by world events. His adult hedonism and selfishness are the starting point, setting him off on a faltering path of character developmenttowards becoming a wise patriarch of the royal household. We see his transition to the point where his frustrations and disappointments at royal life enable him to comforta desperate Princess Diana in her hours of need (though this infamous scene, too, can be read ambiguously).

While the series enjoys examining the internal life of Prince Philip, trickier conversations around the late Dukes public scandals are cleanly glossed over. Instead of questioning his alleged role in the Profumo scandal of 1961, or his casual and consistent racism,the show chooses to indulge an imagined emotional world. In some episodes, we are encouraged to see the royal consort not as a public figure, but as a victim.

It is not surprising, then, that since the latest season of The Crown aired in November 2020, Prince Philips approval ratings have risen, making him the fifth most popular member of the monarchy. Interestingly, he has a 52 per cent approval rate amongwomen; a sign, we might conclude, of the empathy his on-screen portrayalevoked. Perhaps unexpectedly, this focus on Prince Philips inner battles has provided a sympathetic legacy to an otherwise controversial public figure.

There are many criticisms to be made of The Crown, which pushes the boundaries of so-called historical fiction to the limit, at times enraging both ardent monarchists and dedicated republicans. But in the years to come, when younger generations begin to interrogate the legacy and purpose of the monarchy, Prince Philips memory will remain immortalised on the small screen; a royal biography more powerful than any history.

[see also: the latest reactions and tributes following the death of Prince Philip]

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Thanks to The Crown, Prince Philip will be immortalised as an anti-hero - New Statesman