Generation Tween

Baby boomers are supposed to be making way for the next generation of federal leaders to move into top management positions. So how many Generation Xers have entered the Senior Executive Service? Peter Ronayne, dean of faculty at the Federal Executive Institute, says the answer is 325. That's not exactly a groundswell, but it's the beginning of a trend, notes Brian Friel (a bona fide Gen Xer himself) in his latest Government Executive Management Matters column.

It also begs the question of who exactly is a Gen Xer. Wikipedia notes that "the exact demographic boundaries of Generation X are not well defined, depending on who is using the term, where and when."

But we know that it's the group that comes after the baby boomers, right? So here's Wikipedia's take on how that generation is defined:

There is some disagreement as to the exact beginning and end dates of the baby boom, but the range most commonly accepted is as starting in 1946 and ending in 1964. The problem with this definition is that this period may be too long for a cultural generation, even though it covers a time of increased births.

I'll say. In fact, this definition puts a bunch of us into the baby boom who have little or no association with the majority of boomers. I was born in 1962. I was a toddler when John F. Kennedy's term came to a tragic end, and I have no recollection of Woodstock or any of the other cultural touchstones of the 1960s. Heck, I was barely old enough to pay attention to Watergate. And while I'd love to be contemplating retirement, I'm nowhere near that stage of life yet.

Still, I always get a good laugh out of Brian and other Gen-Xers when I try to force my way into their generation, too. Generationally, people my age are doomed to perpetual tweener status.