OD Community of Practice 
Hosting an Intergenerational Potluck in the Workplace

Featuring Jeff Thoren, DVM, PCC, BCC

JOIN AzODN!

Thursday, August 8th
12 Noon -1:30 p.m.

Join us for our second OD Community of Practice Zoom Session! This month, Jeff Thoren will lead an interactive opportunity to explore the ideas of an intergenerational potluck with fellow members and create the opportunity to include an often-ignored aspect of diversity and inclusion into our work as OD professionals. The process which we will use is a model for how you can approach the topic in your own work on intergenerational opportunities in the workplace. This session will provide an opportunity to explore the implications of Chip Conley's ideas for us personally and professionally.

In his book, Wisdom@Work the Making of a Modern Elder (2018), author Chip Conley asserts that organizations are more successful when they are steered by people of all ages. “The workplace should be like an intergenerational potluck,” he says. “We need to create a compact where everybody brings what they have to the table - what they’re best at, generationally.”

Conley observes that the concept of intergenerational reciprocity (each generation learning from and complementing each other) emerges at a perfect moment in our history. For the first time, we have five generations together in the workplace. People are living longer and needing to work longer so the number of workers in the sixty-five and older demographic is expected to increase at a faster rate than any other age group.

This unprecedented age diversity in the workplace can be challenging and confusing, but it can also be a wellspring of opportunity. In this AZODN Community of Practice session, we will review Conley’s suggested solutions to the challenge of age diversity in the workplace. We will also explore what all this means for the field of organization development as well as the implications for each individual session attendee.

In preparation for our time together, please review the feature article Wise Eyes/Fresh Eyes from the January 2019 edition of Southwest Magazine (article by Chip Conley).

Jeff Thoren, DVM, PCC, BCC, is the Founder of Gifted Leaders LLC. Jeff is an Enlightened Rebel who seeks a creative destruction of the status quo. He is inspired by an idealistic vision of a better workplace experience and is determined and creative in his pursuit of it. The majority of organizations today still rely on industrial age management practices and paternalistic forms of leadership. Jeff’s personal mission is to increase awareness around these outdated behaviors and point the way to innovative new solutions. Jeff is talented at seeing things in unique and thought-provoking ways and challenges others to think outside the box. He is compelled to rouse people from conformity and to inspire them to see how they can act to make a difference. Read more about him here.

Join us August 8th, 12:00PM to 1:30PM, via Zoom
Cost is $15 for AzODN & Talent Co-Op Members and $25 for Non-Members
Pre-reading this article by Chip Conley is highly encouraged!

The OD Community of Practice (CoP) is an opportunity to hear from thought leaders on current topics, share best practices, deepen community learning, and add new tools to our toolboxes in a collaborative, engaging, convenient format from the convenience of your office or home.

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