A trip in Melbourne inspired me to write about our Generational Clash (I).

eleonoraescalantestrategy 29 Dec 2017 1 Comment

Good night to all of you. After finishing Leg 3 and now in Melbourne, I decided to visit Melbourne online.

Melbourne Park, Victoria.

According to Lonely Planet, “Melbourne is consistently voted the world’s most liveable city and Melbournians are quick to tell visitors what makes this city such a great place to live from their favorite restaurants to the laneway bars and cafes (‘better than Sydney’). But what makes a city really liveable is the stuff you can enjoy without opening your wallet”.

Melbourne Central District

Melbourne has several attractions, such as the Ian Potter Centre inside the National Gallery of Victoria, the Royal Botanic Gardens, the Federation Square, the Melbourne Museum, Arts Centre Melbourne, Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium and the Melbourne Zoo.

Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium

I have read the sailors are now preparing themselves to be ready to leave next week to Hong Kong. Leg 4 is coming. At least, I assume they will have some time to do some tourism sighting in the city. Since I am not there physically, I can´t do anything but recommend the sailors to visit some of those places if they have some time. If I were sailing for so long, nonetheless, my love devotion for nature and the ocean, and after being so many days in the seas with the sailors seeing only waves and blue colors in the Antarctic waters, I would rather prefer to visit the most liveable place in the city: Mmmm, guess what that place could be?… I have chosen to give a prevalence this time to a place which is full of people, where the sailors can buy gifts and giveaways, or buy some fresh food and eat with the locals. A place with plenty of colors, where products and services collide. Did you guess it? Well, we will visit the Queen Victoria Market at Melbourne. I have gathered several pictures from this market and you can see them below:

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Queen Victoria Market (QVM) is one of the top attractions at Melbourne.

Fresh Food Markets all over the world are the most fundamental expression of how that country is. Every time you wish to know how is a country´s culture, its society, beliefs, organization, care for their citizens past, present and future; Visit their public food and fresh products market.

Stockholm Foodhall Market

Again, let me repeat it: If you wish to know in less than a snap, how developed and caring for its citizens a society has been? Go to the main public fresh food market. And you will find the answer. Being there will give you all the feeling of that city. You will understand where you are. The most respectful, evolved and civilized societies have the most beautiful public markets you could ever dream of. And the ones who are evolving, are now also building or updating their public fresh markets infrastructures and designs. No doubt why the most beautiful public fresh markets are located in London (Borough Market), Barcelona (La Boquería), US (Lancaster Central Market in Pennsylvania, Canada (St. Lawrence Market, Ontario) and Singapore (Kreta Ayer Market), Sweden (Ostermalm hallen), Denmark (Torvehallerne), The Netherlands (Markthal-Rotterdam) and of course the list includes the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne, Australia.

Now you will ask me, why do we have to go to that QVM Market? Oh No… Please no… But, be patient with me:

QVM Renewal Program

I respond: First, because the fresh food market inspired me to write about the Generational Clash we are currently experiencing. Let´s think for a moment the planet is the fresh food market. God gave us this big planet with all the resources included and I compare this planet for a minute with the fresh food market. God told us in Genesis 1:28-31, “he was giving us every plant and tree which has fruit yielding seed as food for us”. And each fresh food market on earth is the representation of God´s gifts from Genesis. In consequence, one good metaphor is to consider our fresh food markets as the place which should represent our gratitude to God for his food gifts. If the fresh food markets are well maintained by the public cities, if they are well organized, pretty and clean, if each vendor (trader) has their products available to all type of clients in decent conditions, with beautiful set-ups, etc… that tells you all you want to know about the degree of responsibility of that city to the majority of its citizens. If the fresh food markets are dirty, with zero maintenance, high levels of crime, without the minimum infrastructure qualities required for their functionality, we do have to make an effort to invest in their development as soon as possible. In addition, as a second reason, I have used the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne just as an inspiration metaphor of my writing for today, because I wish to explain: What is to have a business in QVM Melbourne or any other place, in the year 2017, with four different group of clients, segmented by generations which are completely different in between?. Each business at Queen Victoria Market has to target 4 different segments of clients. And the same applies to all businesses in all industries in the world. Fresh food markets tend to be messy and colorful. Each vendor has to differentiate themselves from their neighbors and should be trying to sell their products with 4 different value propositions. Even the most organized fresh food markets experienced vendor has to know this. Every day, they see a lady of 70 years old, as much as a teenager with an iPhone who goes to buy the same peach or apple or pizza or maiz or detergent. Let´s start with understanding which are the four generations living in the year 2017. Watch the following slides please:

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If you wish to download the last presentation in PDF Format Click here: Eliescalante Bonus Melbourne Generational Clash.

generation wars Tomorrow we will continue to understand why there is actually a generational clash of priorities, and why it seems so difficult to build consistent solutions for the planet based on my hypothesis that there has been a rollout of decision making to generations which are not ready yet to handle the problems from our planet with visionary perspectives for the future. Moreover, I perceive the reason why this world is so messy at the moment is that we are trying to push the Generation Z and Generation Y before the time is right. generationsquotes Baby Boomers have left US a mess in the world, and I write it not to blame them. They inherited a planet after a Second World War. They did it without knowing the nocive effects of their decisions. I pray the youngest Baby Boomers can find a way to leave us a better world. They won’t retire until 10 or 15 years from now. About my Generation, currently, the eldest members of Xers are just starting to arrive at decision making positions. As a Generation X representative, I have not arrived yet there (I was born in 1970). The big problem we have is not the emerging technologies, neither artificial intelligence or robots leaving us jobless, but how the world has to move on in peace, tolerance, fix the terrible issues we will inherit and bring integrity-ethical global solutions differently to the main 4 generations who are now living all together, going to the same marketplace. We all go to the same Marketplace. Or as the Beatles song, “We all live together in the same yellow submarine”…