Generations Blog

This past week, the Walt Disney Company released its new blockbuster, Camp Rock, which will be viewed by the younger half of the Millennial generation endlessly for months to come. As I watched it with my kids Friday evening, I marveled once again at the power of the Disney machine and the creativity that can take any mundane subject and turn it into a sensation.

At the same time, I found myself saddened by two things: 1. The fact that the innocence of summer camp has now been transformed into an experience that requires high dollar production numbers and 2. The downright meanness of the script. Camp Directors throughout the US must be cringing at the expectations now being created for them due to this production. It has been bad enough having to compete with iPods, cell phones, digital cameras and the like to maintain kids’ attention. Now they will be faced with the disappointment of some that the Jonas Brothers are not headlining the main stage on the last night of camp or serenading girls in the dining hall.

 Then there’s the script. As I watched my daughters watch this movie, I was dumbfounded by the cruelty written into the script for the purposes of building a storyline. This was simply Mean Girls transformed onto a Disney platform. My girls, or any other children, don’t need to see this type of viciousness illustrated once again. They’ve seen it too much of it already. I’ve said more than once that my wife and I feel like we’re competing with the rest of society to teach our kids the values we want them to have. Sadly, the Disney Company, which has produced so many socially redeeming productions over the years, has surrendered to the times and we parents are left to processing this drivel with our kids.

I had a chat with a young professional in the natural gas industry this past week. During the conversation, I asked him about his pet peeves in working with older co-workers. ”One would be the subtle comments that can be rather belittling,” he said. I asked him for an example. “Well, last week one of the senior managers here told me ‘You’re the smartest 25-year-old we’re had around here in a while,’” he replied. ”I didn’t know if he thought I was the best of a bunch Continue reading “Subtle Comments and the Millennial Generation”

This past Sunday, The Denver Post published an editorial entitled Millennials: Large and In Charge. It was written by T.J. Wihera, a newly minted graduate of the University of Colorado. In the article, he takes Baby Boomers to task for coddling their kids and then complaining about the way they behave in the workplace. Along that line, he does have a point. The Boomers, as a generation, have always believed that they can have their cake and eat it too. He goes on to say that veteran workers should simply get over themselves because his emering generation is going to be in the workplace for the long term and employers should get out of the way and let them take over. He concludes by saying that Millennials will be paying the Social Security tab for their parents and he will never see a dime.  As we know, the issues are “a bit” more complex than he has concluded. Perhaps he will discover this as he matures in the workplace that he derides with such abandon.  I’d like to think that the classes that Mr. Wihera attended at the University of Colorado provided him with a little more understanding of context. Sadly, he does not display it in his writing.

It is unfortunate that Mr. Wihera chose such a polarizing approach with what he had to say. While he could have opened the door to collaboration,  his rant instead seemed to reinforce the self-serving nature perceived by many of the veteran managers and professionals with whom I and others work. I have to wonder why the Post would print such a one-sided piece that does little more that accentuate the differences we we see in the workplace already. I, and a number of others, spend our days trying to promote understanding between the age groups.  This kind of thing does not promote productive discussion. It instead promotes resentment.

It’s true that many Millennials’ parents have gone out of their ways to over-protect their kids. In turn, managers find themselves acting as surrogate parents when these young people fail to behave productively in the workplace. Perhaps Mr. Wihera will be able to land a job where the employer has the time and resources to coddle him and respond to his every emotional need. I wish him well on his journey.