Hmmm...How old are you?
Let me introduce you to the new crop of workers that will be replacing your retiring Baby Boomers. They don't cotton too well to that kind of draconian management style.
True story: An old-school engineering manager, much like yourself, got tired of yelling to get his new hires' attention over their iPods, so he banned iPods. (There were other things, too--IM, Facebook, YouTube, extended lunches, chit-chatting, leaving early--you get the picture.) 25 new engineers banned together and turned in their resignations. HR had a fit (considering the cost to woo these bright young minds) and this got the attention of the CEO, who, to everyone's surprise, sided with HR, that "tolerance and flexibility" was called for in relating to this generation of workers. Of course, the veterans engineers, who had been working longer than these kids had been alive, were visibly miffed, to say the least. Well, rather than be the grandparent of unruly grandchildren, the manager decided to take early retirement. And continues still, are the iPods, iPhones, IMs, Facebooking, and YouTube.
It seems, not only do they have the upper hand at home, with their discipline-shy parents, they have the advantage at work, too, with bosses who failed to do adequate workforce planning. (But if it weren't for tolerance and flexibility, I wouldn't feel comfortable goofing off, right now, waiting for lunchtime!!)
