Staying Relevant in the Digital Landscape

By Roseann Biederman

Traditionalists. Baby Boomers. Gen Xers. Millennials. While these terms are merely descriptors for specific generations, they can seem almost pejorative in a workplace context. That’s because these groups bring their unique priorities and communication styles to work; and when they interact, the result is often miscommunication and decreased productivity.

For indexers, who mostly enjoy autonomy and a buffer zone from corporate drama, generation gaps may seem like a remote concern. But as the world at large—and the world of work, in particular—gets smaller and moves faster, we can stay adaptable and relevant by expanding both our perspectives and our skill sets.

In the Millennial-driven digital landscape, for example, we can foster positive collaboration with editors, publishers, and authors by embracing their key technologies and learning to “speak their language.” In turn, we may enjoy more success in our repeat business and in our marketing efforts. The following books offer practical advice for surviving and thriving in the twenty-first century workplace. 
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Bridging the Generation Gap
Shaw, Haydn. Sticking Points: How to Get 4 Generations Working Together in the 12 Places They Come Apart. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2013. 

If you’ve read Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, you’ll recognize many aspects of its focus on the synergy between individual and organizational effectiveness in this guide.

Through twenty years of teaching The 7 Seven Habits of Highly Effective People training program, author Haydn Shaw learned that coping with generational differences is a significant pain point for organizations and individuals. “Generational friction is inevitable today because we’ve never before had four generations in the workplace,” he says.

Through extensive research (including thousands of individual interviews), Shaw identified twelve tension points that consistently surface in a multigenerational workplace. These findings, combined with numerous (often witty) anecdotes and “ghost stories” that provide a detailed profile of each generation, reveal why we all approach work differently, and why it matters.

Whether you identify as a Traditionalist (born before 1945), a Baby Boomer (born 1946–1964), a Gen Xer (born 1965–1980), or a Millennial (born 1981–2001), as an indexer you’ve likely encountered one of these key “sticking points” in your business:

     • Communication (“What is the best way to interact with my coworkers?”)
     • Feedback (“How often and in what ways do I want input?”)
     • Meetings (“What should happen in our meetings?”)
     • Training (“How do I learn best?”)

Shaw carefully analyzes each sticking point from a generational perspective, then provides five steps for leading through (versus correcting) them. He stresses that it’s important to avoid the urge to “fix” other generations, since each group has many positive attributes. “Stuck in the past or sticking together going forward: it’s a matter of turning a potential liability into an asset,” he says in Chapter One.

While the book’s primary focus is working through differences to improve communication, team-building, and productivity within an organizational/enterprise setting, it provides plenty of insights and strategies for individuals and families. 


Preparing for Tomorrow’s Workplace
Willyerd, Karie and Barbara Mistick. Stretch: How to Future-Proof Yourself for Tomorrow’s Workplace. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2016. 

Even if indexing is our sole employment and we’ve never considered another career path, we should probably keep our options open. This imperative to push past our comfort zones and stay relevant in an increasingly unpredictable future workplace (whatever our profession) is the premise of Stretch.

The authors combine their academic and corporate experience with hard data on workplace trends to give us a taste of what’s to come in the global workplace. Their Workforce 2020 research revealed that the rapidly changing work world is on many people’s minds: “Around the world, the number one concern people expressed was that their ability and skills to perform rapidly changing jobs would render them obsolete. Additionally, only 50 percent of the employees from the survey believe the skills they have today will be the skills they need just three years from now.”

Staying ahead of the curve, they say, requires that we “stretch how we learn, stretch to stay open in our thinking, stretch to build diverse networks and experiences, and stretch our motivation.”

Willyerd and Mistick identified seven megatrends that will significantly affect how we work in the not-too-distant future:

     1  Globalization
     2  Demographic shifts
     3  Big Data
     4  Emerging technologies
     5  Climate change
     6  Redefined jobs
     7  Complexity

The authors note that all of these trends threaten “to make many people and even experts in their fields obsolete.” Case studies of individuals who were faced with this unpleasant reality dramatically illustrate the point. The good news is that, by being proactive and adaptable, we can expand and secure our future career options. Three “Stretch Imperatives” (“It’s all on you,” You need options,” and “You have dreams”) are followed by five actionable “Stretch Practices” that teach us how to 

     1  Learn on the fly
     2  Be open to feedback and change
     3  Build diverse (and useful) networks
     4  Collect meaningful experiences
     5  Bounce forward after setbacks

These skills have value beyond their role in career development, according to the authors. "Studs Terkel, author and Pulitzer Prize winner, said, 'Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying.'”

Stretch concludes with a comprehensive Supplemental Materials list featuring “Research Methodology,” “Essential Books to Learn More,” and extensive footnotes.