Organizations and Leadership of the Future 2: "Human Dynamics"

In our previous article The Organization and Leadership of the Future To better predict the future in this area, we discussed the larger system we are part of and where this system is headed. In doing so, we drew on the K-Waves theory, first proposed by Russian economist Kondratieff and later developed by various scientists. In this article, we will attempt to understand Human Dynamics, another important parameter that will influence the future and consequently transform Organizations and Leadership concepts, keeping in mind that there is a chicken-and-egg relationship between human dynamics and system dynamics. 

American psychologist Dr. Jean Twenge states, "People resemble the era they live in more than they resemble their fathers." Significant national and international events experienced by individuals during their youth contribute to the formation of a shared consciousness and perception. This shared consciousness and perception can shape future behaviors, attitudes, tendencies, and preferences. Therefore, each new generation has different characteristics, such as their values, perceptions, attitudes, behaviors, different perspectives, and strengths and weaknesses. The spirit of each era supports the emergence of people with certain common characteristics in general terms, but these characteristics can be seen in different tones in each person. An important underlying reason for this is that external factors affect individuals to varying degrees in different contexts, but more importantly, the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that each individual develops in response to events differ because each person is unique. Mevlana's statement, "I learned to think. Then I learned to think within patterns. Then I learned that healthy thinking is thinking by breaking the molds." This is an important assessment that we need to approach topics by placing them in the containers of terminology and methodology in order to analyze them, but then, in order to think healthily, we need to free our thinking from these molds after carefully analyzing the topics. By taking important clues for profiling the future of the business world from the defining points in generational theory, we can aim to reach a synthesis by setting aside all these reductionist approaches and their patterns in terms of healthy thinking.

Looking briefly at the generations still active in the workforce, we first see the Baby Boomers, although their numbers are very low. Born between 1940 and 1960 after World War II, this generation of approximately one billion babies is characterized by being content and emotional, highly loyal, deferential to authority, using technology when necessary, and attached to their traditions and culture.

Members of Generation X prioritize individualism, are socially conscious, combative, globally minded, committed to their work, yet careful to maintain a work-life balance. They are tolerant and accepting of different lifestyles and cultural diversity. The Baby Boom generation's "work to live" mindset has transformed into the Generation X mindset of "live to work."

Generation Y takes its name from the letter "Y" in the English word "WHY." While searching for the answer to the question "Why?", they are reluctant to do jobs in the business world that they do not understand the reason for. They are more proficient in technology compared to Generation X. Two-thirds of this generation's members were introduced to computers before the age of five. They are the first generation to grow up with smartphones, laptops, and social media. They rely more on technology for communication. Some organizations have had to write "walk to talk" on their walls to encourage more face-to-face communication in the workplace. Digital technology has a decisive influence on the characteristics, values, and expectations of this generation.

The most important characteristics of Generation Y include being individualistic, freedom-loving, and entrepreneurial. While they have a clear idea of what they don't want, they struggle to decide what they do want. They are a generation that does not enjoy work as much as previous generations and believes they have to work to live. They are individuals who live for today and do not make long-term plans. Another characteristic of this generation, which dislikes rules and authority, consumes more quickly, and behaves dissatisfiedly, is their high self-confidence. However, this does not always mean that their self-resources are equally high. They enjoy being the center of attention. Their goals are high.

Today, Generation Y is considered to be the generation that dominates the business world in terms of numbers. The generations that will dominate the working life of the near future are Generation Y and Generation Z, while Generation Alpha is seen as the generation that will dominate the distant future. 

The most important thing that sets Generation Z apart from other generations is that they were born and raised with digital technology. Generation Z are the children of Generations X and Y, and they value their parents' opinions more than other generations, listen to them, and care about their ideas. Along with Generation Y, they are the most active social media users worldwide.

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They have a high capacity for accessing information. They do not merely consume information; they also have the ability to produce and control it. They are the generation with the highest hand-eye-ear coordination and motor skills. Despite their high hand-eye-ear coordination, their attention span is quite short compared to other generations. 

Compared to previous generations, they have lower attachment to ideology, national values, tradition, religions, and even their own distinct identities, yet they embrace multi-identity more than previous generations. In digital environments, they may prefer to exist with identities beyond their real-life identities, identities that even their close relatives would not recognize. Their low attachment to identity and its constituent elements, on the other hand, supports them in forming a higher identity, seeing themselves as "global citizens" and "part of the universe." Similarly, while they feel less attachment to the institutions they belong to than the previous generation, they may prefer to be in structures that support them in developing themselves, that are meaningful, and that help them achieve self-actualization. The environmental awareness and sustainability for humans and the environment brought about by Wave 6, the blurring and overcoming of boundaries between individual and social welfare, will increase Generation Z's expectations of social welfare from their organizations. The Baby Boomers' question, "What can I contribute to the organization?" became "What can I contribute to the organization to differentiate myself from others?" for Generation X, and "What can the organization contribute to me?" for Generation Y. For Generation Z, this question has become "What can my organization contribute to the environment and humanity?"

The expectations of Generation Z from organizations are pushing them to become more "social enterprises," while their expectations from leadership are transforming today's understanding of leadership. With this generation, leadership will become an approach expected more from managers within organizations than from religious figures and politicians.  It is thought that they will want to see a "facilitator" rather than a manager in front of them, to be able to communicate sincerely and simply, as in all areas of life, and to have servant leaders who manage them with a coaching style in terms of self-actualization and finding their purpose in life. It is thought that reverse mentoring will increase even more in organizations with this generation.

Looking at the latest generation, the Alphas, considering the technological developments of their era and the characteristic features of the Alphas, by 2021, the education system must fundamentally change to enable the Alphas, who are all students and have not yet entered the workforce, to adapt to their era. Researchers believe that traditional educational methods lack the capacity to meet the intellectual, social, and emotional needs of this new group of students due to the characteristics of the Alpha generation. In particular, it is thought that teachers lacking technological knowledge will face serious problems with the Alpha generation. 

Members of Generation Alpha have been integrated with technology, which has been an integral part of their daily lives since their earliest years, and with the digital world that influences their lifestyles and behaviors. Generation Alpha is characterized by traits such as an entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, dynamism, a disregard for rules, a dislike of authority, a passion for independence, and a dependence on technology. It is thought that representatives of this generation will largely choose technology-related professions, exhibit leader-focused behaviors, and meet all their personal and work-related needs in the digital world because they dislike face-to-face communication. New professions such as YouTuber, blogger, and influencer are already quite popular among Alphas. Some Alphas even earn significant income from these platforms. 

In the future, the Alpha generation, which dislikes rules and authority, and the question of authority may come to the fore. How members of this generation will behave in their communication with managers in hierarchically structured organizational environments will be an important issue. Therefore, organizational leaders need to focus on their management styles, particularly developing the necessary competencies in "Leading and Coaching" throughout the period of managing Generation Z, and internalizing servant leadership approaches to make them part of the organizational culture. 

With the "servant leadership" approach expected from Generation Z leaders, in the Alpha generation, where the effects of the 6th Wave will be more visible, in a future where matter can be overly manipulated by humans, and post-human examples have slowly evolved from laboratory-scale to examples visible in daily life, there will be an increase in spiritual (internal) needs will increase, and the relationship with matter will be freed from the context of need. Along with the previous generation, companies will shoulder the task of "producing leaders for the world," giving rise to more meaning-focused, more inclusive, unifying, and more spiritual leaders. 

Pınar Ersoy Özdoğru