Great thoughts. Actually, the whole generational discussion began along the lines of what you mention in this post. The effort began by trying to spark a discussion about how NASA can engage the younger generations with its mission. It was never intended to be something of a sounding board for Gen Y to tell NASA what to do or anything close to that. The point was to “be the change you want to see in the world”. To honor the legacy of those who came before us in space exploration by learning from them but also trying to embody the same boldness and audacity that was used to lift us off the planet in the first place.

So, in short, I agree! If we, as passionate space enthusiasts of any age, can foster a healthy discussion about how to bring about positive change in the agency, then I think thats beyond just an opportunity. I think that’s a responsibility that we carry by choosing this line of work. We owe it to our generation, the generation of middle and upper management who mentor us, their mentors before them, and all those to come in the future to try to make the agency a better place.

To do so, we’ll need to shut up and learn from our mentors. If we can do that and also challenge the status quo when appropriate, then maybe our mentors can learn a thing or two from us, too. Thus, the cyclic nature of cross-generational learning that will hopefully lead us to new heights…….

And with that, if I could attach an audio file to this comment I would add the Full House tune (you know, the one they play at the end when everyone hugs and the audience says, “awwwwww”… )

Personally, I’m excited about the I& Engagement Teams at JSC. I think that when people across the agency and in various levels of management/line-working engineers can get together, check badges at the door, and just talk as people who care about the agency, great things can happen.

Gerty,
I’ve always prided myself in being able to look at multiple sides of an issue. Through out this debate (discussion?) here and at NASAWatch, I’ve been very silent about discussing my (somewhat) dissenting opinions on things (from the Gen Y point of view) based on the fact that I didn’t want to appear to be overly negative about the entire thing. Quite the opposite, in fact, is true. I think that we as a generation have a lot to offer management at both the center and agency level. I also believe, however, that “they” have a lot to offer us in the way of guidance, knowledge gained by being in the business longer, and lessons learned from previous mistakes (and triumphs). All in all, I believe that ideas, innovation, and engagement requires all interested parties to be equally involved.