In all of last week’s news reportage about NBC’s shake-up of their evening programming, little attention was directed to one key fact: Conan vs. Jay is a classic Gen X vs. Baby Boomer confrontation, and similar conflicts are taking places in offices throughout the country.

 

In recent years, Gen X has pushed to take on leadership roles in all sorts of organizations. In many cases, they have confronted Baby Boomers, who are thus far unwilling to relinquish control. The Great Recession of 2009, which squeezed many Baby Boomers’ retirement savings, only exacerbated these generational conflicts.

 

Rather than standing at loggerheads, members of both generations would be well served to step back, take a breath, and focus on what is best for the long-term health of their organizations. Gen X must be cultivated. They will take on leadership positions much sooner rather than later. Boomers must prepare to relinquish some control.

 

At the same time, the Conan vs. Jay imbroglio contains an important lesson for Gen X too. NBC’s decision to move Conan was a basic business decision based on cold, hard numbers. Conan simply had failed to attract the same number of viewers at the 11:30 p.m. (EST) time slot that Jay had attracted for more than a decade. For Gen X, this is a reminder that in today’s business world, leadership cannot simply be awarded. Instead, it must be earned.