Y’er Bret Bernhoft from Portland, US, posted an interesting blog article recently, reflecting on the emerging number of generational consultants. Here we look at some of the extracts and take a perspective:

“Inside the world of Generational Consulting there is plenty of room for everyone to stretch out and really take their fair share of the pie. There are literally no restrictions, at this point, on the influence a Gen Y consultant can have on their clients and those who they advise.”

“There is a distinct difference between advice and insight when either giving or receiving consultation… the practical application of either type of information is simple, one is simply a collection of facts without perspective while the other is simply a collection of facts with an understanding of how to apply them. Today it is too easy for a Generational Consultant to provide advice and for it to be taken as either providence or truly valuable.”

“One of the primary rules for reaching Generation Y is to access Generation Y at their level, at our level.  Without direct experience of being a Generation Yer, a consultant cannot provide the insight, only the facts, this is damaging and ultimately misleading to a client… unless the consultant is a Gen Yer they cannot effectively and honestly consult on Gen Y.”

Bret has some interesting and perhaps understandable points here. Where have we heard before ‘you can’t understand our generation unless you are one of us’… the sixties, the seventies…another time perhaps?

However for some years now we have been trying to say that the ‘Y culture’ is not only something aligned to those of a certain age group, it is also a behaviour, a mind set or a culture. Of course it is shared by a large number of people in a particular age group, but not only by any means.       

To say that unless you are in the Gen Y age group that you cannot effectively and honestly consult on Gen Y is good but does that also mean that you cannot be a good consulting doctor if you have not experienced a range of illnesses?  Is a Gen X consultant an expert on Gen X or similarly a Baby Boomer (BB)?

Only focussing on Gen Y is an MM (monumental mistake).  OK, Y is a kind of fashion right now. If Y are imposing change and having themselves heard, don’t forget these changes have been asked for many years now by people now in their mid 30s-early 40s. Nothing new! It means, transition or not, we have to take into consideration other generational cultures and the interaction between them. Look out for our forthcoming article (on the English page).

Having Y’ers in your team, like ours, is of course very helpful. We also have conducted extensive research with Y’ers over the years and new studies are appearing regularly (again see our next article). Of course there are many consultants who are not Y, some are Gen X who behave partly or entirely Y (and frequently are the most active social networkers, web2.0 and gadget users), others may be BB, but ultimately many of them (although not all) have sound experience in people and talent management that is hard to replicate overnight. They have built real proven experience and are successful by working closely with people, being innovative and forward thinking.

So we welcome our Gen Y consulting colleagues who have some great experience and insight to bring at 25 but they also have a great future at 55!