From 4-Gen Leadership by Mark White and Sami Scarpitti:
“OK, Boomer…”
In November of 2019, this phrase became a generational battle cry when 25 year-old Chloe Swarbrick, a member of the New Zealand Parliament, addressed her fellow parliament members about the dangers of climate change, or more precisely, about their lack of action in preventing it. "In the year 2050, I will be 56 years old. Yet, right now, the average age of this 52nd Parliament is 49 years old," she said, hoping to spur her more senior colleagues into action. As Swarbrick spoke, an older parliament member sitting in the audience began to heckle her. Without pausing, Swarbrick deftly, calmly interjected, “OK, Boomers,” into the middle of a sentence and continued her speech, silencing the heckler - and becoming a viral sensation[1]. Within hours her response was being shown on news stations around the world. Today, it’s been viewed millions of times on YouTube.
While Swarbrick didn’t invent “OK, Boomers,” she became its heroic face for millennials and Gen Zers everywhere who have grown increasingly frustrated with the societal and political structures put into place by baby boomers. What was accepted in the past will not be readily accepted by today’s younger generations, and Swarbrick’s “OK, Boomers” moment summed up the angst of young people around the world as they interact with older family members, politicians, and business executives.
The book is available at Amazon and from the Business Expert Press. In its eleven chapters, we dive into topics that include: how the different generations have been formed, how to hire and retain the different generations, how to help Gen Z acclimate to the workplace, how to train the different generations, why some team members are Quiet Quitting, and what the generations might look like in the future. It’s a practical guide for leaders at all levels.
[1] Reis Thebault, “‘Ok, Boomers’: 25-Year-Old Lawmaker Shuts Down Heckler During Climate ...,” Washington Post, November 5, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/11/05/ok-boomers-year-old-lawmaker-shuts-down-heckler-during-climate-change-speech/.