Dear Abbycus,
Now I understand why certain people act the way they do in the workplace — it’s a generational thing. In my unsuccessful struggle to change others’ thinking to the way I think, the idea of generational differences has popped up a number of times. Me being at the tender age of 31, I can not tell you how many times I have been compared to the 47 year old tax manager or the 56 year audit manager. I am a self-proclaimed Generation Y junkie. If you have a chance please distribute my following DOs and DON’Ts list to all the late Boomers/early X’er partners out there.
DON’Ts
- Money — Try again partner; not really interested. As long as my Corolla has gas in it and there is food on the table, don’t really care about it.
- Rigid Billiable Hours — Not for me either. My mind runs a million miles a minute. And with technology today, I am worthless to you in a billable world.
- Slow Technology Adoption — See #2. There is an easier way to do things, friend.
- Threats — Yeah, see, about threats … If you treat me like a human, I may be loyal to you.
DOs
- Challenge me — I am smarter than your 65-year-old pencil pusher in the back office. How do you think I successfully remove half my lunch lodged in the keyboard each day?
- Educate me — Teach me what you know. You have years and years of experience, so share it. I love to learn.
- Listen to me — That blue and white screen I stare at periodically throughout may appear epileptic to you, but it gets me in touch with like-minded pioneers of the industry.
- Technology — Text, tweet, e-mail, Facebook, link, cloud, Google doc, iPhone, Android, Blackberry with me. It’s fun, I promise.
- Validate me — If I do something you like, let me know.
- Change with me — The QBox has replaced the shoe box, old timer.
- Trust me — My comment regarding the threats may make you weary of this action, but if I gain your trust and we can collaborate together, the sky is the limit.
Respectfully,
Chris Farmand
Generation Y ’79
Chris, as a fellow Generation Y junkie, you echo my thoughts exactly. I just wonder what struggles we will have with the next generation.
Dustin,
I have already begun looking at the Z’ers. They are not far off from us, however one theme that keeps popping up with them is their parents. Yes, mom and dad. They are extremely loyal to their parents. I have even read incorporating the parents in the interview! Stay tuned I will report on them soon.
Incorporate their parents in the interview? WTF? Too funny.
Chris, this is a great post, very straightforward (normal for you), and very easy to understand. I’ll be 40 next year, but I still hope I can count myself as a Gen Y Junkie! Can I be in the freakin’ club?
Jason Blumer
Parents are a huge “safe” influence on Z’ers. Think hippies who cleaned up their acts, usually not ball busters. As opposed to boomers whose, in my opinion, could use a lesson in gentle words.
I, Chris Farmand, accept Jason Blumer as a honorary lifetime member of GENY Y JUNKIES.
congrats friend
Several items on here remind me of the animated video of a talk from Daniel Pink I saw over at DeepSky http://ow.ly/23rp3. I’m not a fan of time tracking period. I really have a hard time seeing how my cost structure (based on my decisions on how to run a business, either good or bad) should dictate the price (or my assertion of value) of my services.
These wimpy little mommy/daddy crybabies that can’t cut the umbilical chord really annoy me. I would never incorporate Mom and Dad into the interview, but I would say if you can’t do the interview by yourself, maybe you aren’t grown up enough to work here.
Thank God I’m in generation Y because I would hate to get lumped in with the Peter Pan’s in generation Z (probably the same kids that won’t leave home). Maybe that’s just because I’m a midwest farm boy that started doing real chores when I was only 4 or 5 years old, but I couldn’t imagine having helicopter parents and how annoyed I would be.
Lovely. After reading the comments I quickly doubled checked to make sure that I belong to the Gen Y Junkies club. Thanks for the share Chris, love the things that you’ve pointed out and I must say that I echo with DON’Ts #3 the most.
@Shane – thanks for the mention
What a great blog post! I too am a Generation Y Junkie. I could not have said this better myself! Your list of Do’s says it all.
Thanks for the kind works Michelle. This generational thing is HUGE, and if it is understood can be a powerful tool in business.
Nice take on your generation Chris. I have a 21 year old daughter who works at Apple and has been groomed on the fact she’s a “Hero,” so being twent years your elder doesn’t completely take me out of the game. But enough of that.
I find it interesting that you bring up the word “collaboration” in the last point on your post. I’m willing to bet it wasn’t by accident. I find that is the compelling characteristic of Gen Y. And it’s something that most employers (mainly Gen X and Boomers decision makers), don’t get. The competitive drive of the Boomers and the solitary nature of Gen Xers has been replaced by teamwork. And is that such a bad thing?
Wow Clay,
Competitive and solitary…..I use different terms, but that is the most accurate PG way to describe them. Collaboration is where I find myself doing my best work. When I entered the accounting industry it was “don’t share that info, or your clients will leave you.” I now know that is not true. I love this stuff man.