This cartoon connects to Chapter 11: Organizational Communication.  This cartoon features a training session titled “Generational Differences,” where the speaker says the goal is to understand “why our younger employees are so lazy and entitled.” The humor lies in the contradiction where the session is meant to promote mutual understanding, yet the opening statement reinforces negative stereotypes. This irony highlights a lack of self-awareness in organizational messaging and reflects deeper issues in internal workplace communication. The speaker’s comment illustrates how organizational culture is shaped by assumptions and values that are often unspoken but influence how employees are treated and perceived. It also reveals how upward communication (feedback from employees to management) might be discouraged in environments where younger employees are pre-judged or not taken seriously. The failure to foster a respectful dialogue undermines the effectiveness of internal communication and reinforces hierarchical barriers. When stereotypes dominate messaging, collaboration and innovation often suffer.

I’ve personally seen this type of disconnect in my own work experiences. Older supervisors sometimes assume that younger workers are unmotivated, unprofessional, or unwilling to take initiative, when in reality, we’re often just trying to navigate unclear expectations. My manager would send weekly emails urging us to “stay busy,” even after we had completed our tasks, insisting there was always something to be done. At the same job, I recall joking around with a coworker after our break, which infuriated our manager. He asked if we’d behave that way in front of our boss. I naturally said no, but we were only acting that way because we felt comfortable around him, and because there were no patients present. He later told us to “act like adults” and followed up with a critical email reinforcing the need to remain professional. What frustrated me most was the double standard: one of our older superiors constantly played with a soccer ball, kicking it around and disrupting our work to get our attention. Both our manager and our boss completely overlooked his behavior. Later that week, I had a brief conversation with the coworker who had been kicking the soccer ball around. He had the audacity to critique my behavior. I confronted him about his constant antics with the soccer ball. I pointed out that his actions were just as unprofessional as mine, if not more so. At first, he dismissed it, but then he paused, agreed with me, and noticeably adjusted his behavior afterward. While I appreciated that moment of self-awareness on his part, it still vexed me that it took a direct confrontation for any reflection to happen. Moments like this highlight how inconsistent communication and unequal expectations within an organization can lead to tension, especially when younger employees are held to higher standards without being given a voice.