The generational stereotype. The Baby Boomers. Generation X. The Millennials. Generation Z. All of these classifications bring certain traits, positive and negative, to mind. In a fairly recent TED talk this year, social psychologist Leah Georges explained exactly why there are issues in the workplace as a result of the need for those to classify others under a label. Specifically, Baby Boomers and Millennials.

First, let’s look at the Baby Boomers. These people revolutionized how to view oneself as a person who contributed to radical change, and for good reason. They lived through the Cold War, saw men walk on the moon, participated in the Civil Rights Movement, saw JFK & MLK get assassinated, all while listening to Woodstock bands and experimenting socially in anti-war protests. They’re opinionated, hard working, and tried to define themselves away from the stigma of a white picket fence family that their parents so adamantly adopted as adults in the 1950’s and 1960’s in the midst of workplace prosper. While so desperate to get away from conforming values, this same generation prides themselves on their careers defining their existence.

The Millennials. The mass label that earlier members refuse to identify with for the negative stigma of narcissism attached, and that the later members have no idea they are even associated with because like the rest of the “Peter Pan Generation,” they are living on their mothers’ and fathers’ basement sofas. These humans lived through the 9/11 attacks, grew up through all phases of technological advancement, and felt the effects of the Great Recession in the late 2000’s. Like above, there really are two types of Millennials. The one who fully and wholeheartedly lives up to the self absorbed and free loading namesake. And the one who associates themselves with a separate chosen generation in order to fully fit in with society.

In the workplace, the two generations spar frequently. Baby boomers have earned a reputation for being angry and difficult to work with, while Millennials are entitled with no work ethic. In reality, there are no labels except the ones we force others into. There are self entitled Baby Boomers, and there are hard working Millennials. The Baby Boomer is angry for fear of being irrelevant and losing their jobs, while the Millennial has to ask for an “entitled” raise because of their school debt for a degree that is required for a job in today’s market.

Ultimately, people are just, well, people. Without labels. Without roles. And without reputations.