I took this picture at Grounds for Sculpture over the summer, which is an incredible place that I'd encourage you to visit if you are nearby. It resonated with me because, I'll admit, I'm such a gadget geek that I sometimes have my head down, pushing buttons and missing what is happening right in front of me.

My rationale is that I am capturing the moment in a picture or on Facebook or I'm looking up information that I need right now! But I have to be more conscious that it's really the experience that's meant to be savored, not the documentation.

Maybe I'm just born in the wrong generation, acting more like a Millennial trapped in a Gen Xer's body? Multi-generational expert Tammy Erickson drew definite distinctions between how different age groups think and act when she recently spoke at the 2011 World Business Forum. As an example: Boomers make dinner plans by scheduling all the details well in advance by telephone. In contrast, Generation Y texts each other in the moment or posts a message on Facebook and "requests coordinates and hone in on each other until they happen to meet at the same time and place."

There's no judgment over which communication style is better; it's just different. Where Erickson thought Boomers could learn, however, is in Generation X's approach to career planning because it is more intuitive for those in their 30s and 40s to continually add more skills and capabilities to stay marketable. She compared Boomers to "Jack and the Beanstalk" climbing up a singular stalk, while Generation Xers are busy planting lots of beanstalks.

What's your approach to long-term career planning? Are Erickson's characterizations accurate for you?

Robyn Greenspan
Robyn Greenspan is the Editor-in-Chief at ExecuNet, where she is responsible for setting and driving the editorial content engagement strategy across the private business network's publications and expert-led programming. She is also a Huffington Post blogger. You can follow her on Twitter @RobynGreenspan

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