There is a lot of angst about millennials. Lazy, entitlement oriented, cell phone fixated, lacking social skills and on, and on. A lot of social media is waging a war between melinials and the baby boomers.
What a waste. As if this was a new phenomenon. It was called the generation gap in the day. The elders felt the same about the baby boomers when they were young as the baby boomers feel about the millenials, today.
But, in the end, the baby-boomers turned the corner, picked up the slack and made something of themselves. To start, look at this talk by Simon Sinek on why millennials are the way they are. It is a very well constructed and delivered analysis for the millennial generation.
If someone were to dig back into the baby-boomers formative years they would find that their parents coddled them, in their own way, wanting their children to have a better life, better education and less strife that they did when they were young. The baby-boomers strove to master their life with technology. But, it was technology of the 1940s-1980s. Instead of cell phones and computer software, it was hot rods, sports and music. Some think the millennials need to come to face with reality, like the hippie baby-boomers. Can you think of a more wasted youth than free sex, drugs and rock and roll of the 60s and 70s? If you are a millennial, then you probably don’t know the TV series (1965-1970) called Get Smart. This was about a bungling super spy who always messed things up in his spy career and ended up saying, “Sorry about that Chief.” It became a mantra of the baby-boomers who grew up with the show to strive for mediocrity and use the phrase, “Sorry about that Chief,” for any and all sundry of things.
But the millennials aren’t taking it laying down. In this video, a group of millennials address the baby-boomers, incorrectly though.
They incorrectly blame the baby-boomers for Vietnam, pollution and all the other bad things they’ve inherited. With the exception of sex, drugs and rock and roll, the baby-boomers had nothing to do with it and have likely done more than they’ve been given credit for in cleaning up the previous generations foul play.
The millennials are not really responsible for their plight. Parents, technology and culture have combined to make them what they are. But that’s as far as I go. They are responsible once they find out that the world doesn’t revolve around them. The millennials I’ve worked with are smart and quick learners. They are capable of delayed gratification and can learn and adapt to the baby-boomers world. The information is out there and they will have to assimilate.
CEO snowflake test that clearly outlines what employers want.
Mike Rowe on work ethic that clearly outlines what employers want.
From your baby boomer, grumpy Uncle/Brother Dave.
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