Generations Blog

It has become fashionable among Millennials to display a little underwear, especially around the waist. While some find it bothersome, this is no more troubling than tie-dye shirts were a couple of generations ago. But in an attempt to legislate this horrifying practice out of existence, the village of Lynwood, IL, a suburb of Chicago, has passed an ordinance that levys a $25 fine on anyone showing three inches or more of his or her underwear in public. Question — Does this also apply to aging plumbers?

If there is one universal way to engage today’s emerging generation of consumers, it is through technology. While this may appear obvious, the subtleties of doing so are more elusive. Regardless of the platform, there are five characteristics that all electronic marketing efforts share if they are to be successful with young buyers:

Informal personalization - Emerging consumers have come of age immersed in a world that treats them impersonally.  After all, who knows their neighbors anymore?  But on the Internet, the sites they visit address them by name, if they have been willing to share that name on a previous visit. If they are willing to embrace this kind of relationship with other sites, it is incumbent upon you and your organization to do the same.  Remember the old saying?  Continue reading “Millennial Generation and the Big Click”

For more than a year, I have been informally polling the Millennials in my audiences. I simply ask them to raise their hands if they have twenty dollars or more in cash in their pocket at that point. Consistently, about five percent do. While we generally get a chuckle out of this, I have to wonder about the impact of this shift on our society. What does it mean for our understanding of money? Continue reading “The Cashless Millennial Generation: What Does It Mean for You?”

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.

One of the coffee shops in which I hide out to get my creative work done is packed some mornings with students from a nearby high school. In fact, I’m writing this as they sit at the surrounding tables. In many ways, they are like the friends of my youth — full of bravado, gossiping about the teachers, and discussing the latest TV, music and movies. One of the big difference is that while they carouse with the peers next to them, they are also connecting with others from 500 feet to 500 miles miles away. Every single on of these individuals carries a cell phone. They might connect with Mom or Dad five or six times a day. They might text a cousin in Mexico. They might call a friend inside the school to check on whether some teacher is really giving a quiz today. Continue reading “Coping with the Ultra-Connectedness Today’s Emerging Generation”

On the front page of the Denver Post this morning is an article titled, “In falling economy, teen jobs get scarce.” In it, the writer reports on teens in the local area who are finding that they cannot waltz into any establisment and pick their schedule. The fact is, this has never been true.  But we have led them to believe that employers are dying for applicants. At least that’s what many in the media would have them believe.  The examples the writer used were all from teens who had Continue reading “Young Generation Alert: You Can’t Just Work Where You Want To”

I have received a number of comments over the past week about my posting regarding the value of reflection. One reader asked, “Can someone develop the perspective necessary to thrive in life without taking time to think and reflect.” This is an interesting thought to consider. So much of our lives seem to be driven these days by outside distractions and stimuli that we have to work at finding times and locations to simply Continue reading “Can the Young Generation Develop Perspective without Reflection?”

I have been struck during the past couple of weeks by the number of those under 25 who seem to be in a constant state of multi-channeling. You know, cell-phone, iPod, TV, and reading a textbook all at the same time. Maybe it’s that time of the year, what with the end of school coming. At the same time, I hear constantly from teachers, managers and even some parents about how the members of this generation struggle to make even simple decisions sometimes. One teacher mentioned a student who, when faced with which elective to choose, seemed to just stare Continue reading “Generation Y: Do They Know the Value of Reflection?”