In my last post, I spoke often about how I did this or encountered that. That is important if for no other reason than to clarify, in some way, my son’s response to whatever will be conditioned by what I and his mother gave him in the way of perspective. That seems like a long sentence to simply say, what I did or said had an impact on my son’s decision making machine. This is the reality of Generation Y. What they do and how they act have been greatly influenced by mom and dad (as well as other aspects of their environment). That is the same for every generation. Good times or bad, flush or tight, everyone has been conditioned.
My conditioner, if you will, was my family and my experiences in life. From 1964 till now, I have had influences. Gen Y has also had influences since 1980 (my son since 1989). Now we go cross-eyed. My generation’s awakening helped shape the next. One generation’s simplicities, complexities and eccentricities are intrinsically linked to another’s generational benchmarks.
Now think about this. The veterans by 1990 (just a random middle point for GenY’s generational timeline) were retired. They were in their eighties and now having some issues with their hips and remembering how they survived World War Two. I watched two grandfathers die. Both I consider the most stand-up guys ever! My son met one of them. He has no perspective of what they did, who they were or how they came to be. Then you have my dad in ‘90. He was 46. The same age I find myself now. He was born to a huge Irish-German Catholic family. They got together and still get together all the time…it is a very cool thing to watch. My son knows of the family but because I was divorced from his mother, family became his new siblings with a new mother-father dynamic. We were also separated by many states. Considering 1990 timeline, this was a huge reality for almost every family in America to one degree or another. The family cluster got smaller. Despite how close you were, you were now further apart. So we only saw each other for about two weeks twice a year or maybe more, but not so much. Put this into a perspective and then a mindset. First, perspective. My son, a millennial, became separated and merged all at once. He saw how a family could be more than one thing, in different states and with a differing rules and realities. He knew my dad, his grandfather, but not in the same way I knew my grandfather or my dad knew his. This led to a mindset. He became distanced from what should have been a huge influencer. In many ways, he became more self-reliant and maybe also more self-absorbed. He never wanted for anything and everyone gave him what he needed. His mindset now became fueled by the power of 24 hour TV, the instantaneous internet, desensitizing video games and a global marketing machine. When asked to do a task, he did a great job. He gladly did it, never complained and then when finished, went back to his video game.
So how do you apply this to managing Gen Y…
OK, grandfather and grandmother (or lack thereof) matter, but not as much as it used to. This means family ties and link to a historical thread (particularly in the U.S.) have less of an impact. This is saddening to me. It was how I was raised. However, keep in mind the Millenial has more of a global familial connection. He or she knows people in places we in Gen X never contemplated in 1990. When hiring and uploading, think about how a culture or reason for being matters.
They problem solve without a family connection. They simply look up the information on the internet. This is taking people out of the equation. Information does not have eyes and ears; it now has bits, bytes and speed. Information flows very differently for this group.
My generation will not immediately get this generation. So if you are of my generation (X), stop looking at them through your lens, look at them through theirs. I have always said, it is not a question of you making them know you better, it is about you getting to know them better. This is the ultimate intersection. We are all intersecting with two defined perspectives which may not be obvious to one another. You may need to ask a question or two.
We as part of human race have a tendency to seek affinity with one another. This is a dollar fifty word for commonalities or common ground. You see I may have more in common with my father’s generation than my son’s. Here is another thought, where will my son find his affinity? I have read in multiple sources, Gen Y has more in common with the Greatest Generation than any other. Really? The Greatest Generation saw the Great Depression and World War Two. This generation has iPads, lattes and a rhetorical world without boundaries. How can they possibly be closer? There are fewer and fewer of the Greatest Generation even available. Here is my thesis; they are seeing the world in a bigger way, just as the Greatest Generation was forced to. They had to deal with islands in the Pacific, deserts in North Africa, jungles in Southeast Asia and hedgerows in Normandy. They had to see English, French, Canadians, Russians, Norwegians, Sikhs and South Africans (I am missing about 20 or 30 more ethnicities) in the worst of times and also in the best. That is the hinge. Gen Y has automatically associated it members with one another, in the worst and best of times. It is a world war without the war part. It is a global realization. They bring this to work place. They want to be part of a cause and if they do not get it, they move on. They want to do the work, but IT DOESN’T DEFINE THEM. Not like it did for my father or even me for that matter. They will do the work and then wonder about the big thing that is supposed to happen next.
This part of the series is to see how my decisions and realities shaped my son’s. His workplace decisions are based on what he liked or did not like or saw me deal with. Then add divorce, being given constant feedback, absolute peace, lack of hardship and then technology. Is it any wonder that if they do not get a good vibe in one job, they may very well say “Well, then screw it, there has to be another job across the street.” This is where Gen Y truly meets the Greatest Generation. Those jobs either are getting fewer or becoming non-existent. They will have to define the next phase of the American (and Canadian, etc.) history. They will be forced to make the next step. This means they will have the upper hand in business.
Our journey in life is intertwined. We weave a common and uncommon thread. My son is Gen Y (born in 1989). My daughters (born in 2005 and 2008) are what they are referring to as Gen Z or Gen I (for internet). My grandparents were part of the Veteran Generation. My mom and dad are Boomers. All we have shared has a residue in how we live life and make decisions within it. So what to do? The next parts will look at identifying best practices in how to deal with the exceptional, average and slacker Millenial. But before we move forward, realize this, part of this requires you looking in the mirror. Such a web we weave…
Cheers