Kate Asia Dillon is the first non-binary actor on a major TV series (Billions).  Kate identifies neither as male or female. Having been born female (many still regard Kate as female), Kate does not self-define as one of two genders, nor do the characters Kate plays.

The fact that the restructuring world largely defines itself by gender is beyond peradventure. But that is not the subject of this article.  Rather, this article is about the restructuring community’s generational self-definition.

Adult generations are commonly described as follow:

• Gen Z, iGen, or Centennials: Born after 1996
• Millennials, or Gen Y: Born 1980 to 1995
• Generation X: Born 1965 to 1980
• Baby Boomers: Born 1946 to 1964
• Traditionalists or Silent Generation: Born before 1945

The fact that each generation has been influenced by the economic, technological, and parenting environments in which each grew up, is well documented and chronicled. Some writers have observed a fifty-year cycle, with Gen Z (born after 1996) bearing much in common psychologically and politically with the Silent Generation (born before 1946). The similarities stem largely from the social-psychological effects of the 2008 financial meltdown mirroring the effects of the Great Depression.

The generational divides have an interesting confluence with the evolution of bankruptcy law. Early Baby Boomers practiced law under the pre-Code bankruptcy law. Late Baby Boomers began practicing law when the Bankruptcy Code was relatively new. Generation X experienced the early development and refinement of the Bankruptcy Code. Millennials were born shortly after the Bankruptcy Code was enacted, and by the time they entered legal practice, the Bankruptcy Code was mature. Gen Z is just recently entering the bankruptcy field in the legal assistant and law clerk ranks.

At the upcoming Distressed Investing 2017 Conference on November 27th in New York, I’m hosting the Awards Reception for Turnarounds & Workouts’ Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyers. By definition, all of the honorees were born after 1977 and thus are “Millennials.”  At the same time, over half of the speakers and sponsors in the Distressed Investing Conference are “Baby Boomers”,  and the rest are largely “Generation X,” as is much of the audience. This age-diverse line-up, however, implies more blurring of generational lines than actually exists in the restructuring community.

A few minutes into any conversation, a restructuring professional will probably allude to being a Baby Boomer, a Generation X’er, or a Millennial (and might even tell you what is wrong with the other generations).

Whenever something negative is said about the way a person communicates (text, email, or phone), or uses, or fails to use, available technology, it’s often attributed to their generation. But bad and good communicators come in all sizes, shapes, and ages.  Are the stereotypes warranted? For that matter, is any stereotype warranted?

Thought leadership and innovation arise throughout the restructuring community and across all generations. Many great ideas are killed by generational stereotyping.

Generation and age are useless, irrelevant constructs in the restructuring world.  In fact, they are value-destructive.

Generation or age stereotyping is as flawed, narrow-minded, and flat-out wrong, as stereotyping based on race, gender or orientation.

Just as Kate is an “NB” (non-binary: not defined by gender), I have officially declared myself an “NC” (non-chronological: not defined by age or generation). I am calling for the rest of the community to join me in rejecting “chronology.”

Stephanie Wickouski is a New York bankruptcy lawyer. A partner with the NY office of Bryan Cave LLP, she has practiced bankruptcy law for more than 30 years.

Stephanie Wickouski is a New York bankruptcy lawyer. A partner with the NY office of Bryan Cave LLP, she has practiced bankruptcy law for more than 30 years.

This is the new reality, which many industries are slow to embrace:

Events that have no specific agenda other than food and drink, and which occur after 7 pm, are largely worthless, if not harmful, to actual business development.

I’m going to present my case for going to the gym, going out to dinner, going home, or staying in the office working – in other words, going anywhere other than a networking event at night.

Wikipedia defines “networking” as

Networking is a socioeconomic business activity by which businesspeople and entrepreneurs meet to form business relationships and to recognize, create, or act upon business opportunities, share information and seek potential partners for ventures.

Ask yourself: In the last year, have you made even one new contact or developed even one new piece of business from wandering around a room with dozens of people where everyone wore a name tag and had a drink in their hand? A colleague calls this “Lord of the Flies Networking.”

The most valuable business connections are not going to be found at an evening networking event which has no substantive presentation or agenda, and where people are doing nothing except making small talk and drinking. The people you need to meet are simply not there.

Candid observation: many deals are driven not by those at the top but those in the middle. The “middle” – especially in the restructuring field – is comprised heavily of people in their late 20’s to late 40’s (early Gen Y and late Gen X).  To their credit, most want to spend their evenings with their family or friends, at home, or at the gym. Many people only go to these events because they feel they should.  They would rather be somewhere else. It shows. After a couple of drinks, conversations devolve and connections dissolve. This is the very opposite of what Wikipedia defines as “networking.”

“Lord of the Flies” networking is part of an “old think” way of doing business. Its demise is part of much larger social trends and changes in the way people do business.

These larger trends and changes include:

• Social media, over the last ten years, has come to completely dominate business communications. The primary mode in which many new business contacts are made is often social media.
• Online commerce has supplanted the primacy of brick-and-mortar presence.  Physical presence is not as essential as it once was.
• Social trends, including the convergence of gender roles, the perception of parenting as primary to identity for both men and women, and the prioritization of work-life balance.  For many if not most people, being somewhere else at night is simply more important.
• Workforce rationalization leading to increased work responsibilities (more work, less time). Every hour counts, and busy people find evening networking a waste of time.

Direct communication remains the only means of effective networking.  Direct communication means:

1. Substantive presentations (in-person programs, webinars, podcasts)
2. Roundtables
3. In-person meetings in prime time.
4. Breakfast, lunch or dinner
5. Phone calls and texts.

Developing new contacts and new opportunities only comes from direct communication and relationship building.

Stephanie Wickouski is a New York bankruptcy lawyer. A partner with the NY office of Bryan Cave LLP, she has practiced bankruptcy law for more than 30 years.

A 30 year old Japanese woman named Marie Kondo has skyrocketed to the top of the New York Times best seller list with a short, sweet book entitled  “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.”  Kondo, a declutter consultant in Tokyo, has a simple prescription for getting your house in order. She says her “Konmari Method” is guaranteed to lead not just to tidiness, but to improved health, fitness, prosperity, and happiness.

Her method is deceptively simple. First, take out everything you own by category (clothing, papers, books, technology, mementos – in that order) and examine it. Ask: does this give me joy? If the answer is yes, keep it. If the answer is no, then discard, sell or give it away.  After you have identified everything you want to keep, put each item where it belongs, like-kind items all in the same place, with each category in its logical place. She says tidying only needs to be done once and the effects are permanent. Continue reading →

While the Detroit bankruptcy hearings will not be televised, Detroit’s bankruptcy has replaced the George Zimmerman and Jodie Arias trials in the news cycle.  Detroit is suddenly the focal point for nationwide discourse — the crisis de jour, so to speak.

While the country has seen a lot of major bankruptcy filings, none have involved a major city.   While bankruptcy lawyers will point out that Detroit’s bankruptcy is very different from a large business bankruptcy like American Airlines, the comparison is inescapable.  As two new publications demonstrate, the differences between a city’s decline into financial turmoil and a major company’s may not be that dramatic. Continue reading →

Stephanie Wickouski is a New York bankruptcy lawyer. A partner with the NY office of Bryan Cave LLP, she has practiced bankruptcy law for more than 30 years.

September 15, 2008.  No doubt, you remember exactly what you were doing that morning. Our lives changed forever the day Lehman filed bankruptcy.

After Lehman, chapter 11 cases have become a trifecta of difficult problems, people, and circumstances.  Maybe bankruptcy practice had gotten too easy, or we had all been coasting on a wave for too long.  Lehman and the financial meltdown that followed it has been the “Tough Mudder “ of the bankruptcy world. Continue reading →