# Disconnected

We are currently living in an era with the most technologically connected age in human history. Sending messages across the globe in an instant — with advanced technology in video calling and instant messaging and across the sum of human knowledge from a device in our pockets. Despite these growing technology most people experienced a profound sense of human disconnection which is devastating and creating a cold and silent crisis in our workplaces, communities, and homes.

This silent disconnection is mostly visible in the deep, narrowing and immeasurable disconnect between generations, especially between people, viewpoints and feelings. Disconnected can feel like a dismissal for young people entering the workplace — they are digital survey individuals with superb and innovative ideas about agile ways of working, social impact, and sustainability. But most time they are still been confronted with traditional hierarchies and the phrase, “that’s not how we do things here.” Their passion for purpose-driven work can sometimes be hindered by established systems they see as outdated, leaving them feeling unseen and unheard and lost.

For older, and more experienced generation, “disconnected” does feel like being unwanted, useless and not valued. These set of people possesses hard-earned wisdom, massive institutional knowledge and a tested and proven ways of navigating complex challenges. But with the advancement in technology and new ways of doing things, their invaluable experience is often sidelined, deemed irrelevant and outdated in the new world order ruled by AI. They watch as generationally tested practices are abandoned and discarded for the “next big thing,” thus leaving them feeling obsolete and unwanted.

This generational differences and mutual feeling of disconnection is not only a social problem, infect it is critical to social and business failure. When the innovative energy of the youth and the wisdom and experience of the older generation are disconnected everyone loses. Corporations misses out on innovation, stability, and the ability to manage risk. The objectives of mentorship programs will not be achieved as that crucial transfer of skills that keeps value chains robust and resilient also breaks down, and with it. The result is manifested in the high rate of youth unemployment, talent drain and the loss of irreplaceable institutional history.

However, there is a way to reconnect.

The linkage between this divide in not a new app or even a policy directive— but with what I call conscious conversation. Meaning a deliberate and mindful interaction where people listen deeply express themselves with genuine openness and respect, aiming for mutual understanding, collaboration, and connection rather than simply winning an argument or expressing a viewpoint:

• Reversal of Mentorship Programs: Where young and tech savvy employees are paired to teach senior leaders about digital trends, ESG, and new media, while simultaneously gaining strategic insight from their experienced mentors.
• Storytelling Sessions: Creating forums where the older generation can share the “why” behind certain processes, and the youth can pitch the “how” for improving them.
• Collaborative Problem-Solving: Throwing mixed-age teams at real business and social problems, from streamlining a supply chain to designing a community outreach program, valuing each perspective equally.

I think that being disconnected is like a choice and reconnection is an intentional act. It takes empathy from the older gen to actually remember what it was like to be young and eager. It also requires a great deal of respect from the younger gen to really appreciate the foundations built by those who were there before them.

The key point and objective is really not to agree on everything, but to build a new value chain of understanding and transitioning—one of shared knowledge. By incorporating the innovative and fresh eyes of the youth with the seasoned vision of experience of the old, we can most definitely proffer solution the world’s most pressing issues, together. Let’s stop talking about the disconnection and start building the connection.