How generational stereotypes hold us back at work

Nilofer Merchant's book and related writings inspire much of my thinking about how we embrace and encourage people — as they are — to innovate from the unique place where only they stand in the world.

I began exploring how organizations and popular press think about generational differences because of my experiences (some bizarre, some stereotypical) as a millennial working in the academy. For many years, I had ignored how my unique path into and through the academy could actually make me a better scholar, idea maker and mentor. This brief piece, about how I began to lean into my own "onlyness," is a reflection on how some of the best, most original ideas come from the strangest of places.