OK Boomer Organization

How enterprises misfire in aligning talent to work

It was the shot heard around the world. Or rather, the putdown heard loud and clear from New Zealand. When Chloe Swarbrick uttered those words “OK, boomer” in response to an older heckler during her speech in Parliament, a global meme was born.

Was it a fair putdown? Something was warranted given the disrespect shown while she had the floor. Was it ageist? Most definitely, but then her young age clearly played into the motivations of her heckler. Did it work? Perhaps, it became meme of the year.

Someone mentioned in reply to my last newsletter that calling out executives in my last post was perhaps ageist. Here is what I said:

“…most executives of enterprises achieved professional success in the traditional setting of command and control, top-down hierarchies…”

No age is implied, but there is an implied mindset. The old-school, traditional approach to professional success is by becoming management material, playing the political game, and working the system. even if one rises to a level beyond one’s level of competence.

There is a classic management conundrum called the Peter Principle. We see this play out often in large…