For the last 30 years, discussions about generational differences in the workplace have painted an increasingly complicated picture. Beginning with the advent of Generation X, speakers and authors have focused first on three, then four, and now sometimes five distinct generations operating side by side – each completely unique and distinct from all the others, and each requiring a different management approach in order to foster a healthy environment of collaboration and productivity. In this scenario, the more generations there are in the workplace, the more difficult it is to handle them all correctly.

But it doesn’t have to be so. Us Vs. Them presents the issue in a simplified and intuitive two-generation model: Older, more-experienced workers and their Younger, less-experienced counterparts. Doing so meshes perfectly with the way we all naturally think, since our brain is wired for bilateral thinking and instinctively frames all issues into two major categories (yes vs. no, conservative vs. liberal, men vs. women, etc.). The two-generation model also allows us to collect all of the generational issues we face at work and frame them in straightforward terms that allow for simple solutions to what seem today like intractable problems.

Packed with statistics, historical analyses and real-world examples, Us Vs. Them addresses each of the root causes of generational tension at work – specifically our differing attitudes toward loyalty, innovation, change, career advancement, and continuing education. Readers will learn a surprising amount about their colleagues (hint: younger workers aren’t nearly as disloyal as everyone thinks, and older workers aren’t as loyal as they sometimes pretend) and ultimately walk away with a comprehensive collection of strategies to tackle every major generational issue they will face in the workplace for the rest of their careers. That is no exaggeration, nor is it difficult to deliver. We simply need to look at the world differently than current generational theory allows us to.

Reviews:

“The biggest challenge facing businesses today is generational differences.  We either learn how to work with each other or we can close the doors.  Jeff Havens has nailed the problem, the challenges, the frustrations and has the fixes to work through them. Your business can’t survive without this information.

Larry Winget
Six time New York Times/Wall Street Journal bestselling author, social commentator and television personality.

 

 

“In Us vs. Them, Jeff Havens helps bridge generational gaps with his witty insight in this hilarious, helpful, and refreshing book.”

Ashley Rhodes-Courter
MSW. International & New York Times Bestselling Author of, “Three Little Words” and “Three More Words.”

 

 

“With a dash of wit, pinch of irreverence, helping of data and analysis, sprinkle of snark, and hint of anecdotal flavor, Jeff Havens has provided a straightforward set of strategies that supports a clear pathway of understanding and success for all in the workplace.   Us vs. Them is the perfect antidote to the Me vs. You syndrome delivering a framework where we all really can just get along and thrive in the workplace.”

Cindy Cisneros
Vice President of Education Programs, Committee for Economic Development

 

 

“In his book, Jeff Havens provides supervisors with much simpler guidelines than the current, more complicated literature on generations. Us and Them makes sense! It also avoids the negative messages that some generational literature presents. It delivers strategies and easy low cost to no cost ideas that will really work.”

Angela S. Kemp
SPHR & GPHR, 32 year HR & Communications Professional

 

 

“Us vs. Them covers a very important topic for our management team. We have developed a class specifically on this topic and the ideas I am getting from this book will prove invaluable in training our managers. I find Jeff’s approach to this subject very refreshing as he uses real world examples in his explanation of the truths in the multi-generational workplace that everyone can relate to.”

Johnny Carcioppolo
Director, Corporate Learning Solutions, Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.®

 

 

“In the workplace there are still minefields to conquer, language to temper, and management styles to avoid. Luckily, you’ve got Jeff Havens as your tour guide, and he takes his readers on an entertaining and intergenerational journey of how to make work a little less painful, a lot more profitable, and maybe even fun.”

Steve Culbertson
CEO, Youth Service America