New Book Geeks and Geezers Compares Young, Old 1)Entrepreneu

Broadcast: Jan 18 2003

81-year-old Sidney Rittenberg decided¹ as a young man he wanted to help build bridges between cultures. He's devoted² much of his career to promoting business ties between China and the United States, despite the fact that he spent 16 years in a Chinese prison. He now teaches college, where he often lectures on the importance of ²⁾idealism. "I find myself continually having to encourage students and young entrepreneurs not to be afraid of the future, as long as you're sure that what you're doing is right," he said. "I think some of us in my generation got stamped out as incorrigible³ optimists⁴, and I think that's something important."

34-year-old Elizabeth Kao is a marketing⁵ executive at the Ford⁶ Motor Company. When she looks at people in Sidney Rittenberg's generation, she too is struck by their positive outlook. "I feel like when they were young, they were full of optimism, whereas I think my generation is possibly a little more cynical," she said.

The difference is also reflected in their choice of heroes. Sidney Rittenberg names public figures like American President Franklin Roosevelt. Elizabeth Kao, reared in an era of celebrity^{7 3)}scandals, says her role models are people closer to home, like her parents. It's such distinctions that intrigue⁸ Robert Thomas and his co-author Warren Bennis. Mister Thomas says they chose the title for their new book, Geeks and Geezers, as an affectionate way to dramatize the difference between leaders in their twenties and early thirties, and those in their 70s and beyond.

The two groups of rebels and ⁴⁾innovators launched their careers in different eras, with different goals. "The geeks have grown up in the digital era, have always known computers and the Internet," said Robert Thomas. "The geezers, by contrast, grew up in an era dominated by significant world events, on the order of the Depression and World War II. And when we asked our geezers what was important to them at age 25 to 30, what we heard over and over again was a desire to achieve a measure of stability, particularly coming out of an era of instability. Whereas what our geeks referred to was their desire to shake things up. With all the growth of the Internet and all kinds of business opportunities, it wasn't just a matter of getting a good job and working your way up the corporate⁹ ladder. It was striking it rich early."

In fact, many young leaders expressed impatience¹⁰ with corporate ladders, or other traditional ⁵⁾hierarchies respected by their elders. Brian Sullivan was in his mid¹¹ twenties when he founded a venture capital firm called Rolling Oaks Enterprises. "I never was in the military as most of our predecessors¹² were, especially in the finance and industrial sectors," he said. "So, yes, there seems to be a bit of rebellion against that structure. But we all recognize there has to be a certain amount of structure for a company to have some consistency¹³."

And while Elizabeth Kao works at a huge corporation with a complex chain of command, she too wasn't willing to wait years to make her voice heard. "When I hired into Ford, I was part of the manufacturing leadership program, and there was this ⁶⁾flurry of new ideas as we took a look around," she said. "So we did quite a bit with the Ford production system."

Nancy Beardsley: "And do you find yourself dealing¹⁴ differently with people under you?"

Elizabeth Kao: "My feeling is that the people who work for me are a team. It is not a command-control situation but rather that our team gives each one of us the opportunity to shine."

Robert Thomas says younger leaders who may work at several jobs in just a few years also have a different view of corporate loyalty¹⁵. "The late 1940s and 1950s was an era when you found a job and stayed with it, and there was a payoff for you in the course of a lifetime," he said. "Whereas for our geeks there was a very strong sentiment that the employers no longer felt responsible to them, and therefore they no longer felt obligated to employers. That it was their responsibility to manage their individual careers."

Young leaders like Elizabeth Kao also say they want more balance in their lives. "People in my generation are products of the generation before us, people who were willing to work the massive hours," said Elizabeth Kao. "I don't want it to come to the point that I to regret that I didn't have children, or that I didn't spend time with them."

But the book also reveals what the two groups have in common qualities that could be vital for good leadership in any era. Nearly all had some kind of life altering experience that taught them resourcefulness and resilience. For Sidney Rittenberg, it was being isolated¹⁶ in a Chinese prison. "You have to learn how to use your mind in such a way that you are thinking positively¹⁷ to demonstrate to your captors who you are," he said.

Elizabeth Kao says her turning point was the failure of a dot-com company she started with college friends. "This was a huge learning experience, not only why did things fail, but also what could I do to avoid that situation the next time," she said.

And Robert Thomas says geeks and geezers haven't just learned from past experiences. "The geezers share in common an openness to learning new things," said Robert Thomas. "And we find similar qualities among our geeks. They don't necessarily read the way the geezers did. This is not a reading culture. However, they do a tremendous amount of traveling. They're very interested in new cultural art forms. So in that respect thing they share is an openness to new things."

Robert Thomas says that openness means geeks and geezersfor all their differences can work well together in the same company. And they can learn from each other one group seasoned by war and economic hard times, the other confronting the pioneering possibilities of the Internet age.

I'm Nancy Beardsley.

1)      entrepreneur [7CntrEprE5nE:]n. <法>企业家, 主办人

2)      idealism [ai5diElizm]n. 理想主义, 唯心论

3)      scandal[5skAndl]n. 丑行, 丑闻, 诽谤, 耻辱, 流言蜚语

4)      innovator[`InEJveItE(r)]n. 改革者, 革新者

5)      hierarchy[5haiErB:ki]n. 特权阶级，层次

6)      flurry [5flQri] vi.激动, 慌张

 

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

3 incorrigible   

adj.难以纠正的，屡教不改的

参考例句：

• Because he was an incorrigible criminal,he was sentenced to life imprisonment.他是一个死不悔改的罪犯，因此被判终生监禁。
• Gamblers are incorrigible optimists.嗜赌的人是死不悔改的乐天派。

4 optimists   

n.乐观主义者( optimist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Even optimists admit the outlook to be poor. 甚至乐观的人都认为前景不好。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Optimists reckon house prices will move up with inflation this year. 乐观人士认为今年的房价将会随通货膨胀而上涨。 来自辞典例句

5 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

6 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

7 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

8 intrigue   

vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋

参考例句：

• Court officials will intrigue against the royal family.法院官员将密谋反对皇室。
• The royal palace was filled with intrigue.皇宫中充满了勾心斗角。

9 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

10 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

11 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

12 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 consistency   

n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度

参考例句：

• Your behaviour lacks consistency.你的行为缺乏一贯性。
• We appreciate the consistency and stability in China and in Chinese politics.我们赞赏中国及其政策的连续性和稳定性。

14 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

15 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

16 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

17 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。