Categories: Business, Steve Maich

Is this the future? Don’t bet on it.

Spoiled, shallow and selfish: say hi to the new kid at work

by Steve Maich on Monday, November 24, 2008 9:00am - 10 Comments

But the real significance isn’t in what these books have to say about young workers at all. Most of the observations and recommendations are so general as to be practically useless in the real world. In fact, books like Grown Up Digital and The Trophy Kids aren’t really about young people at all. They are about the baby boomers who read them (and write them). It’s the boomers who raised these millennials, and as Alsop rightly points out, they raised their kids to be steeped in the ethos of self-esteem, praised at every turn, enrolled in dozens of activities to ensure “well-roundedness.” Boomers, who’ve spent their lives terrified of being seen as old-fashioned, never bothered to dwell on archaic notions like perseverance, discipline, focus and sacrifice.

Now, in the workplace, they turn to boomer management gurus who advise them to indulge their young workers just as they indulged their children at home. Yes, this might contradict everything they’ve ever believed about forming a cohesive and productive workforce. But they are reassured that by eliminating rules, chain of command, and doling out praise like penny candy they are simply unleashing the fantastic potential of their little darlings.

History disagrees. History shows that it’s all those old-fashioned values that made North America the world’s most dynamic economy. Experience tells us that naive kids eventually discover a pretty close relationship between effort, discipline and success. One day we discover that advancement and respect flow from hard work, commitment, and not blowing off assignments to go play volleyball. “Relaxing into productivity” is a myth. The world economy is getting more competitive, not less. And the sooner boomer managers face that, the sooner the kids will start growing up.

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Tags: Don Tapscott, Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Yo, Ron Alsop, The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation

More by Steve Maich

Justin K.

These books were written before the economic downturn. Let’s see how these kids will fare now when jobs are getting scarcer and quitting a job because no one is pampering you no longer becomes an option. Just like us 60′s idealists, who had basically the same mindset as these kids, we eventually changed. Watch these kids, they will do the same. These books are outdated already. As a business owner, I see very little value in hiring kids with these traits, fortunately most “millies” are just hard workers who are not spoiled.
Vickie Gray

My generation, apparently called Generation X, is poised between these two solitudes. I was resentful of Boomers when I first entered the workplace, because it was 1987 and they had simultaneously taken all the jobs and caused an economic crisis. With a BA I could barely find 10 hours a week at $8/ hour to pay the rent.

At the time, however, Boomers in their corner offices with expense accounts and company cars, recently graduated from a label known as “The Me Generation” labeled my cohort “spoiled, unmotivated, disloyal and lacking ambition.” I was amused at the time that they were labeling others as they had been labeled by their parents.

I now find it fascinating that the same Boomers will label their own children’s cohort using the same labels! Perhaps, as the author says, the lesson is about the boomers, not the generations after them.
http://babyfaceexecutive.wordpress.com Robert Sofia

This is one of the most balanced write-ups I’ve seen! As a gen y’er and a business person, I can attest to the fact that most of the media representation of my generation is hype. People are still people, and business is still business. Ultimately, business leaders have to motivate people to do what is in the best interests of their business, or it will fail. Since when do entry-level employees decide how a business is run?!
Stella Owens

I really don’t accept your assessment of these young people. I’ve been teaching piano for a number of years starting in 1989. The youngsters who came to me stuck to their course of study and were totally engaged. They understood and accepted that to pass their Royal Conservatory of Music exams they had to practise long hours. They were passionate about the music and this enthusiasm helped them in all aspects of their lives. I meet them now as young parents and I think they are just terrific. They are professionals employed as teachers, nurses, one about to graduate from medical school. They are not self-indulgent. They don’t take time off when they feel like. In studying piano they learned the importance of taking on a task and working at it. Three of my former students now teach piano themselves (almost putting me out of business)! Surely that illustrates initiative.
Wayne

I started main frame computing in 77 and 15 years ago became one of the first Administrators for an Internet Service Provider in western canada during these many years in the IT business i have hired and fired hundreds of people and if there is one common thread I have encountered … it is that age is no measure of incompetence I have hired as many good young drones as I have fired old bad ones if there is a single factor that will improve the workplace it’s women. That’s right folks you heard it here first the worst work environments are when they are all male way too much testosterone and I have noticed that the female of the species are simply better at the work and generally speaking easier to get along with in the office – weird but true!
http://www.grownupdigital.com Don Tapscott

Steve Maich maligns today’s youth as being dumb, coddled and narcissistic, and as the author of Grown Up Digital, I obviously disagree.

My opinions weren’t plucked from thin air. I led a survey of 11,000 young people as part of a multi-million research project conducted by the think tank I founded years ago. We also interviewed employers and dozens of experts in North America to paint our portrait of today’s youth.

The evidence solidly refutes Maich’s assertions. I encourage readers to visit GrownUpDigital.com to learn more.
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http://talentegg.ca Lauren Friese

This article completely misses the point.

Yes, every generation that enters the work force eventually conforms to the culture of the workplace (in a general sense), however it is still very important to study generational tendencies and point out their nuances.

Again, while you cannot generalize an entire generation, you can’t ignore the way they were brought up. Stripping aside the idea that Gen-Yers were ALL coddled and that NONE were ever taught the principles of discipline, hard work, etc, I think it would be quite impossible to ignore the fact that the generation currently enterring the work force were brought up CONNECTED.. with personal computer and the internet.

Employers need to take notice and unlike what Maich suggests, but much like Tapscott seems to suggest, need to adapt.
Paul A

Two technologies that Net Geners are accused of overusing – social networks and video games – are all incredibly useful in the “real” world. Especially the world of work. Social networks can be used to locate expertise inside a company, recruit new employees, manage tasks, instant message and research. Similarly skills learnt in video games (say World of Warcraft) include leadership, caching and mentorship, split second decision making, organization as well as negotiation. If you still believe that these tools are making the Net Gen stupid – I invite you to race your 15 year old in trying to find someone in your network who programs Java or build a World of Warcraft guild from scratch.
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