I’ve been trying for years to to adapt the warfare “generations” model to management and I think I finally have the mapping right. The problem is that while both military and business are driven by tech, the business world is also driven by regulatory forces, muddying things
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If you make 2 assumptions, you get a roughly right and useful mapping:
1. Nth generation management generation tracks N-1th military generation
2. Shareholder value/agency theory ~1976 split the 3rd generation into 2 pieces, A and B that has no counterpart on military side
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Up until about then, some large fraction of the male population had served too. The leadership of each is now two very different populations. Much less synchronized.
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Good point. The Vietnam vet generation mostly didn’t end up in leadership to the extent WW2 vet generation did. It was those who avoided the draft who got ahead career-wise I think. They led ~85-95 or so.
