The comments and frustration are almost universal.

“I don’t know where you’re coming from.”

“In my day ... ”

“Young people today (likely followed by a head shake).”

“I just don’t understand you.”

Whether it’s a frustrated parent, a bewildered grandparent or a baffled young adult, generational differences frequently manifest themselves into arguments and family discord. In an effort to translate that tension into understanding, generational expert Chuck Underwood is bringing his decades of research from the boardroom into the living room.

Underwood, the founder of The Generational Imperative Inc., an Ohio-based generational consulting firm, has applied his research primarily to the areas of generational work force management and marketplace strategy. But soon after a business presentation was completed, he would hear a personal comment from an audience member.

“I’d hear, ‘Yeah, this is great business strategy, but I also learned something about my parents that I never knew,’ ” Underwood said. “I felt like this knowledge needed to get into people’s living rooms.”

Underwood will have an opportunity to do just that as he recently taped three one-hour programs on the subject. “America’s Generations With Chuck Underwood,” which was taped in front of a live audience at Sinclair Community College, will be broadcast nationwide on PBS stations later this year.

“What this topic can do is launch a billion conversations in America,” Underwood said. “The more we talk about it, the more we will realize how the five different generations see things.”

Those differences manifest themselves in everything from marriage and parenting to sex and religion.

The birth of a field

Underwood, a Miamisburg native, was in the midst of a successful broadcasting career when an innocent restaurant conversation changed everything.

“I was speaking to a gentleman 20 years older than I was and I remember saying, ‘You and I came of age during different times in America,’ ” Underwood said. “As the conversation went on, there was a lot of ‘my generation’ and ‘your generation.’ It was one of the most fiery and most enjoyable conversations I had ever had.”

That fiery conversation prompted a career change for Underwood. The accomplished play-by-play announcer switched gears, focusing his efforts on a new field — generational studies.

“I became one of four or five people who created the field,” Underwood said. “It was the ’80s, and there was nothing on the subject.”

It was far from a profitable endeavor for the first 15 years but, around 2000, a few advertisers tried their hand at implementing generational advertising strategies and the field took off.

Underwood has since added retail giants Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and Macy’s to his list of research clients. The generational studies pioneer is now a respected consultant and scholar in the field, but his current passion is more about family than finances.

“Bridging the generational gaps is what this project is all about,” Underwood said. “It can help parents understand their children, grandparents understand their grandchildren and visa versa.”

The birth of a generation

There are five living generations, ranging from the G.I. Generation, born between 1901-26, to the First-wave Millennials, born between 1982-94.

“Generational study is not reliable until we reach at least 18, so there is no such thing as a 15-year-old Millennial,” Underwood said.

A key component of a generation is the sharing of core values.

“In roughly our first 20 years, we are going to form very powerful core values that will guide our decision-making for life,” Underwood said. “Those people around our age experience the same times and teachings. When the times and teachings change, a new generation begins.”

According to Underwood, the unique core values of a generation exert remarkable influence over everything from lifestyle preferences to personal relationships to career choices.

After countless conversations in the classroom or lunchroom, those values develop and shape the beliefs and perceptions of a generation.

“But if we understand about our different formative years then, maybe, we will exhale and make peace with generational differences,” Underwood said.

Understanding generational differences can go a long way toward creating family harmony.

“If you frame your disagreements in generational terms, it depersonalizes the argument and when you defuse the tension you can really get somewhere.”