Good morning from a cold and snowy Winnipeg International Airport.  I’ve been working with a great group of managers of credit unions across south western Manitoba for the past couple of days in Brandon Manitoba.

I was reflecting last evening in my journal how fortunate I am to get to work with folks like this. Although there were some Baby Boomers in the group, there were a number of Gen Y and even a couple of Millenials in the group. It was wonderful to work with them, and frankly, I am inspired by these young people. They are smart intellectually, and they are smart socially. There seems to me anyway to be a welcoming of diversity, an openness to differing opinions and possibilities.

It strikes me that the potential for good in the world is huge at this point in time. The economic and political power is held by people who grew up in the 60:s and 70”s; people inspired and taught by peace and compassion. And the next generations, especially the millenials are in their own way, inspired and taught by peace and compassion. Already connections are being made; young people are being engaged and asked to act and respond by the “Free the Children” campaign, the Me to We campaign, and others. Young people are meeting with elder Noble Laureates, the Dalai Lama Centre in Vancouver is working with Save the Children to create opportunities for at risk youth to meet and engage with internationally known writers and thinkers about how to make their world a better place. Elders are forming groups like the Suzuki Elders, and various Grandmothers’ groups. Very successful Boomers like Bill Clinton, Bill and Melinda Gates and others are turning their attention to deeper purpose kinds of projects. And when these various groups come together, the fusion possible is amazing.

In our workplaces, how can we create space for young people and elders work together? I watched a promo after a TED talk the other day for a scientific organization that uses a “tap on the shoulder” culture, where everyone is committed to the same goal; young and elder. And so, within this culture if I have a question and I’m a young person, I can tap anyone on the shoulder to ask it. Regardless of hierarchy, regardless of tenure, anyone can be asked. And in return, the same holds true, elders looking for fresh insights, new possibilities, outside of the box thinking, can tap anyone else on the shoulder as well.

What might such a ‘tap on the shoulder’ culture look like in your organization? How else might you bring inspired youth and inspired elders together to make your workplace and the world a better place for all of us?