A son is reading a newspaper while sitting on a bench with his aging father, who is taking in a beautiful sunny day. Suddenly, the father hears a bird chirping and asks his son, “What is that?”

The son puts down his paper, clearly annoyed, and answers, “A sparrow.” This goes on a couple more times, with the son getting more irritated, and finally yelling at his father that he’s already told him the answer several times.

The father abruptly gets up and walks into the house, and the son feels remorse at what he’s done. The father then comes out with his diary from many years ago, sits next to his son and asks him to read it out loud. “Today my youngest son who just turned 3 was sitting with me in the park when a sparrow sat in front of us. My son asked me 21 times what it was, and I answered all 21 times ... a sparrow. I hugged him every single time he asked the same question, without getting mad, feeling affection for my little boy.”

The son then puts the diary down and hugs and kisses his father.

Talk about a generation gap!

I love to study how the various generations view the world -- and, equally important, how the world views them. Now, a new group is coming of work age -- Generation Z. Gen Zers, also referred to as the iGeneration, were born between 1995 and 2010, which means that the oldest are now entering the workforce.

We’ve heard a lot about millennials or Generation Y, people born in the early 1980s up until the mid-1990s. Millennials are not children anymore: The oldest of them are now in their mid- to late 30s. Millennials are increasingly taking leadership roles within organizations. In addition to managing their peers, millennials will soon be managing Gen Z employees.

According to analysts at Goldman Sachs, America’s youngest generation is nearly 70 million strong. This group will soon outnumber their millennial predecessors. Will millennial managers complain about Gen Zers as much as baby boomer managers complained about millennials? Only time will tell.

I like most of what I’ve read about and experienced with many Gen Zers. Full disclosure: Most of my 11 grandchildren are part of that generation.

First off, they are more connected. They grew up with the internet and have been plugged in since day one. They spend more time on their smartphones than any other generation, using them for education and entertainment. They are more likely to browse the internet than go to a movie. They process information faster than any other generation.

But they also like to communicate face-to-face -- a more personal approach. They have both physical and online friends, and many are connected around the world.

Because Gen Zers live in a high-tech world with constant updates, their attention span is shorter than millennials or other generations.

Gen Zers value ethics. They like companies that take a stand. They are well educated about brands and make sure a company’s actions match its ideals.

They like to be individualistic, are more do-it-yourself and prefer their own work spaces versus working together in a group. They are used to having things personalized, from news reports to music playlists. They’ll pay more for products that highlight their individuality.

Members of Generation Z are more diverse than any other generation. They are good at multitasking. They are used to blending work and play, up to seven days a week. If they can log in and log out, they can work from anywhere, which is why the physical office is changing.

According to Wikipedia, Generation Z members self-identify as being loyal, compassionate, thoughtful, open-minded, responsible and determined. They view their millennial peers as competitive, spontaneous and adventurous -- all characteristics that they do not see readily in themselves.

Perhaps the characteristics I like most about Gen Zers is that they are resourceful and entrepreneurial. High percentages want to start their own business. A Gallup study found that about eight in 10 students in grades 5 through 12 want to be their own boss rather than work for someone else. They are willing to try something and fail.

Maybe Generation Z will help other generations step out of their box and see the world in a whole new way.

Mackay’s Moral: While you’re busy teaching the next generation how to do things, don’t be surprised if you learn a thing or two.

While visiting with a friend over coffee one morning, a young woman complained, “Every time my husband and I get into an argument, he gets historical!”

The friend interrupted, “Don’t you mean hysterical?”

“No, I mean historical,” the young woman replied. “He always brings up the past.”

Her husband could benefit from the words of motivational speaker and author Wayne Dyer: “Hold no grudges and practice forgiveness. This is the key to having peace in all your relationships.”

We are living in a time when being offended is in fashion. It’s just too hard to let things go. We seem to have forgotten about forgiveness. Forgiveness requires people not to keep score -- a human tendency when we feel we have been wronged.

Sadly, this tendency affects our professional as well as our personal lives. If we have a problem with someone else being smarter, richer or more successful than we are, working together becomes much more difficult. That doesn’t enhance cooperation in any arena.

Are you a grudge-holder? Do you go around making lists of everything that is unfair in the world? This age-old practice is linked to our evolutionary history, according to an article by Nando Pelusi in Psychology Today magazine. Pelusi writes that it’s particularly difficult to let go of grudges because there are high emotional payoffs involved. This, he writes, is a sensible motive, because our ancestors had a huge investment in making sure they got their fair share in the ancient world -- a place where unfairness could result in the death of you and all the people in your group. This gives humans a reason to be hypervigilant when it comes to uncovering cheaters or swindlers.

Injustice collecting, however, entails more than resentment toward those who are benefiting unjustly. It is, as Pelusi points out, resentment building on a mass scale. We become outraged when the world isn’t absolutely fair, and this can lead to unending anger, hopelessness and depression. It is also a way to avoid responsibility for our personal circumstances. But how do we change something that seems to be so hardwired into our systems? Pelusi makes these suggestions for giving up a grudge and moving on:

-- Make a list of injustices. Write down the things that weigh on your mind. This will get your mind to focus in a productive way.

-- Stop thinking in all-or-nothing terms. Ask yourself whether the injustice you are experiencing has to affect all aspects of your life. Try to see how the injustice might help you find a new direction or live in a different and better way.

-- Ask yourself if your life can still be meaningful despite the injustice. If not, Pelusi says you have to realize you are making a choice to refuse to get over something.

-- Will being upset change your situation? Ask yourself this question if you seem stuck in a quagmire of your own anger.

-- Frame your situation accurately. Is something really unfair -- or just irritating? Keeping perspective is key if you want to move on.

-- Realize that you are going to come across unfair situations. Make a decision about how you will handle these circumstances in the future.

-- Question how much a particular example of unfairness will affect you in the grand scheme of things. Try not to fall victim to the temptation of wallowing in grief over something that just doesn’t matter that much.

Here's another story to explain what I'm talking about. While a Zen master was away one day, a cleaning lady came to tidy up his house. As she was dusting, she accidentally knocked over his favorite vase, and it smashed into a million pieces. The cleaning lady was horrified and didn’t know what to do.

She contemplated leaving without telling the master what had happened, but decided to stay and confess that she had broken his vase. When the master returned, she showed him what she had done and begged his forgiveness.

The master said, “Do not worry, dear lady, I bought that vase for pleasure, not pain.”

I like the advice in this Arabic proverb: “Write the wrongs that are done to you in sand, but write the good things that happen to you on a piece of marble. Let go of all emotions such as resentment and retaliation, which diminish you, and hold on to the emotions, such as gratitude and joy, which increase you.”

Mackay’s Moral: Forgive. Forget. Then get on with it.

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, enjoying his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars, and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed up to the spot where the brick had been thrown.

The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and shouted, “What was that all about? What’s your name? This is a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost me a lot of money. Why did you do it?”

The young boy was apologetic. “Please, mister ... Please. I'm sorry, but I didn't know what else to do,” he pleaded. “I threw the brick because no one else would stop ...” With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car.

“It's my brother,” he said. “He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair.” Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt, and he's too heavy for me.”

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He gently lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes. A quick look told him everything was going to be OK. “Thank you,” the grateful child told the stranger.

Still speechless, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!

My sister Margie is constantly telling me to stop and smell the roses. In other words, slow down. I just love to go fast and cram as many things into my life as possible. It’s not that I don’t enjoy things -- I do. I just get bored if I’m not busy doing something I like to do all the time.

When I am asked what I would like on my tombstone when I die, I answer, “He couldn’t sleep fast enough.” In other words, I’m afraid if I sleep too much, I’ll miss something.

I’m well aware that if I were growing up in this day and age, I would be labeled as hyperactive. I’ve always needed to be busy. That’s not a bad thing, if you know how to use your time constructively and can learn to focus.

I work almost every day, but I take time off for my hobbies, which include international travel, spectator sports and lots of golf. My wife, Carol Ann, and I are movie junkies. We also have family that visits us on a regular basis, and with 11 grandchildren, this keeps me grounded. And that involves making some tough choices.

You try to strike a healthy balance between your work life and your personal time. But when a new project lands on your desk or the busy season hits, you may feel helpless and frustrated. Here are some strategies that I use to get through the busy times:

-- On again, off again. Schedule one to three days when you’ll plan to work late or start extra early. Schedule the other days as your normal work hours. Set realistic goals both at work and at home -- like when to take on or delegate certain projects or activities on any given day. Knowing you have days of reprieve will help you get through the longer days.

-- Marathon and rest. Sometimes your work may leave you with absolutely no free time. Run the marathon, committing to working extra-long days for weeks or even months (if need be). But set a definite completion date. Focus on getting work done while keeping expectations realistic at home.

-- Above all, remember that life is short. When your priorities are out of whack, everything suffers. Commit to being the boss of your life.

Mackay’s Moral: If you see a brick wall ahead, make a U-turn and find a better path.