We are Generation Breakthrough - formerly known as Generation Y. We are creative, determined, and entrepreneurial. Join the movement to embrace these qualities, so we can redefine success, and ultimately our impact on the world. Let’s redefine our generation as “Generation Breakthrough.” |
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| Generation Y is Misdiagnosed |
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| Written by Tiffany Ford | |
| Friday, 18 July 2008 14:03 | |
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As our generation moves into the workforce, we are confronted with employers who ask us to fall in line and pay our dues, just like every generation before us. We often hear comments from our bosses like, “I had to work at an underpaying, demeaning job at this company for 20 years until I got to where I am now." And "The learning process takes a very long time.” My internal reaction to such comments is “Well, that was really just a dumb decision.” We are the first generation to be born into a world where learning and knowledge increases at exponentially concentrated rates. We have the resources to learn even faster, which in turn means that 'putting in your time' is less about education, and no longer pays off. While you are waiting to pay your dues, you will certainly be surpassed by a even younger, more determined, and more cutting edge person who ironically believes in a philosophy like Generation Breakthrough's. Luckily, our generation has a tendency (cynics would say for instant gratification) that instead encourages us to use our time wisely. Our generation has seen too many good people from older generations, who climbed the ladder and followed the rules, now getting walked all over. They continue to be loyal to companies who are not loyal to them, and rarely have the freedom to accomplish their life-long goals. Generation Breakthrough, on the other hand, knows a bad deal when we see one, and we are not afraid to simply say ‘no.’ Employers are trying to convince us to fall in line by calling us immature. They are trying to teach us that we must repeat the cycle in order to be successful. Well, Generation Breakthrough is too smart and savvy to play into this mind virus. Generation Y is much less likely to respond to the traditional command-and-control type of management still popular in much of today's workforce...They've grown up questioning their parents, and now they're questioning their employers. They don't know how to shut up, which is great, but that's aggravating to the 50-year-old manager who says, 'Do it and do it now.' Jordan Kaplan, Associate Managerial Science Professor, There have been many articles written based on the fact that employers think we are high maintenance, too demanding, spoiled, and lazy. Unlike the generations that have gone before them, Gen Y has been pampered, nurtured and programmed with a slew of activities since they were toddlers, meaning they are both high-performance and high-maintenance...They also believe in their own worth. This is not a trend, and will only develop exponentially throughout generations. Bruce Tulgan, RainMaker Thinking (Full Article at entrepreneur.com) Our generation feels a need to create, and do important, inspirational work. We are not lazy, we just refuse to work blindly. We need to completely disregard anyone who is trying to hold us back, even if their effort to do so is unintentional, or even mistakenly well-intentioned. We wont achieve good opportunities to challenge ourselves and learn if our employers are telling us to wait 20 years like they did. The proven solution is to bypass this ladder-climbing system and instead create your own opportunities. Our generation’s demands are so high and so strong that we are triggering a change in the entire culture of success in our society. Our parents raised us to be savvy forward thinkers who work to achieve our goals, and that’s who we’re going to continue to be. No matter what.
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Comments (2)
  written by mac5, August 21, 2008
Complaints by the "older generation" about young people being pampered, and lazy, ... are as old as time. Best to ignore them and go about the job of improving the world. Individuals who find their "calling" (something they really believe in) will be motivated to out-work and out-preform all the naysayers of the "older generation".
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written by Emily, August 26, 2008
Tiffany, I totally agree. I HATE when people think it's that we're lazy. We just don't want to be walked all over. We want to stand up for ourselves, make decisions for ourselves, and have control over our future. We don't want to be bound to one company our whole life or be a yes man to a boss we don't agree with. I am noticing a lot of internal struggles at the job I'm leaving between the new school and old school mindsets. Some people think things should be very rigid and traditional, and others think their should be more flexibility and less company loyalty. But anyway, yes, I resent when people say we are coddled and lazy. We just have a different way of doing things, and I think we're a very ambitious, creative bunch!
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