Geek And Geezers Book Review

Warren G. Bennis and Robert J. Thomas’ book Geek and Geezers (2002), provides a unique look at cross-generation of leadership, the ability to succeed, and how a leader defines success through the crucible. Bennis and Thomas originally started the study on young and old leaders to show the influences of era on leadership, but it became obvious that there was more. They interviewed a total of 43 leaders of which one group was over 70 years of age, the “geezers’ and the second group consisted of leaders under the age of 35, the “geeks”. From their study, Bennis and Thomas believe that they have identified the “process an individual makes meaning out of often difficult events which is called the crucible” (W. Bennis; R. Thomas, pg. 4). Bennis

Eras happen every eighteen years and can be defined by an event that falls within them, but the challenges or opportunities that happen within those eras can be different for each person based on their leadership abilities. The geezers that were surveyed grew up during the time of “era of limits” which meant it was: time of cautious optimism – a period in which men and women alike were encouraged to play the game hard but to play it by the rules, to be loyal to company and country with the expectation that such loyalty would be rewarded (48).

The geezers are linear narrative thinkers which believed in an organized chain of command and a hierarchy within the command (11). The geeks grew up during the time of “era of options” which meant unlike the geezers, the geeks were about “making history” by being over ambitious and exploring all opportunities, but wanted balance in their life too. Geeks want to “change the world” or make it a better place to live in instead of focusing on money. Geeks see many opportunities for jobs and growth, but loyalty to one company was not something they thought about. Geeks said the main feature of their era was speed because “it was the digital world which was nonlinear and had ditched the corporate pyramid for the flat organization” (11). What had taken the geezers 20 years to learn, the geeks could do in a couple of

Leaders with adaptive capacity have confidence, optimism, can handle situations without uncertainty, explore technological ideas versus ignoring them; they are flexible and determined to find resolution within problems, and most of all, the leaders “are not paralyzed by fear or undermined by anxiety in difficult situations” (101-102). Bennis and Thomas learned that their leaders who sought out expertise information when needed always understood the benefit of using someone else’s wisdom for their own growth. The crucible transformed these leaders and becomes a turning point where each leader felt different than they had prior to the crucible. Bennis and Thomas asked what made each leader make the decision to change and the results where the same; they had come to a crossroads where they could either stay or “jump to the next plateau” (105). The geeks and geezers choose to make choices, to take responsibilities, to do something new, or do the right thing (105). Both groups of leaders understood that they may not always get what they want when they took a risk, but they did learn from the risk they took. “Learning how to learn was one of the most valuable tools they took away from their crucible experience, and it was one of the all-purpose tools, along with creativity”