Enough

Some of my best friends are Millennials. But haven't we heard enough about their generation? Enough about what they eat and drive? Enough about who they like to sit next to at the office; how often they change jobs and how independent they are?.

Granted they're moving into the workforce in large numbers but this is far from the first generational transition we've witnessed. If the boomers and the Xers had the social media to tout their influence on the marketplace, the story would have been much the same.

Technology is the biggest change we're facing and all of us who are working are having to deal with it. And, as with any change, you either embrace it or watch it pass you by.  It's your choice. The Millennials are not making it happen. They have just grown up with it and are living with it every day. Researchers are already predicting the next evolution of Facebook and Twitter, which will be new to all of us in the same way.

Like every generation, Millennials have their music, their recreation, their jokes, their television shows and superstars. But none of that is new. Only the names are different than the past. The intervention of media is the cause of much of this chatter. They are feeding us on a strict Millennial diet, day in and day out. Consultants are said to be charging $20,000 a day to school major companies about employing Millennials. I'd like some of that action.

Don't get me wrong. These are smart, talented young people, who have had a very tough row to hoe through school and out into the working world. But to some degree every generation has had to face these challenges. And don't forget that Gen Z, born after the turn of the century, is already into high school and will soon be meeting the Millennials on their own turf.

I work with Millennials every day and many of them are students in the college classes I teach. It's not the generation that is unique. It's the individuals. That's where you see the bright spots. Take away the tablets and the smartphones and we're all much the same. This is the first digital generation and we can learn from them but we're teaching each other...and that's good. We all have our strengths.

Gen Z will be known as the Reality TV generation. The Kardashians showed up just about the time these kids were starting primary school. When asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, the answer was "famous". There's a sad quirk for you.

Millennials have run their course.  They're settling into their 30's. The playing field is leveling out. Let's not be more concerned about who they are than we are about who they are going to be. They are co-workers, parents and friends. Let's get comfortable with our next door neighbors and not get hung up about why  they like a good craft brew rather than a properly aged wine or that they are close friends with Rachel and Chandler.

When is the last time someone introduced themselves to you by saying, "Hi, I'm Jim and I'm a Millennial."? Enough with these labels.  Let's just move on. There are much more important issues facing us.

It was 50 years ago today...

 

How many times have you heard that phrase in the past couple of years? I’ve heard it a lot and that got me thinking.  The “Turbulent Sixties” weren’t all that turbulent. Not the first half of the decade, anyway. In fact, from President Kennedy’s election in 1960 through LBJ signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it was one of the all-time great periods in our country’s history…even better than Twitter.

Most of what has happened to us in the past half century was greatly influenced by the early 1960's. We entered the Space Age then and Star Trek first appeared on our television screens. President Kennedy kicked off the Space Race and, not long after, John Glenn circled the earth three times and we were off to the moon.

It was exciting to be an American. We made an American car that was the envy of the world, the Ford Mustang.  We introduced the touchtone telephone and the microwave oven at the Seattle World's Fair and communication and frozen food have been improving ever since. Speaking of the World's Fair, it propelled Seattle into the global spotlight and made many people outside this country very envious of our little Northwest corner of the world.

For me and the millions of other "Boomers", that period of time set the stage for how our lives would play out...the influences, concerns and opportunities were all fresh and new. The "Caution.." statement went on every pack of cigarettes. For the first time, the condition of our environment became a focus for us. Bob Dylan debuted in Greenwich Village and then there was the Beatles. Our early musical influences were taking form.

It was amazing when Willie Mays signed the largest baseball contract in history for $100,000...imagine that, $100,000 (baseball players were the highest paid professional athletes in our country at that time). And my hero, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Maris battled each other to break Babe Ruth's "unbreakable" record of 60 homeruns...and Maris hit 61, legitimately, no extra games, no steroids, he just did it.

MLK won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Peace Corps started then, giving school kids like me a fresh look at the world beyond our shores. Add Johnny Carson taking over the Tonight Show and Dr. No showing up with Sean Connery and Ursula Andress in the first James Bond movie and you're starting to get the idea of what kind of an impression this period made on us.

In some ways, this second decade of the new millennium has certain elements of those glory days 50 years ago. My friend and fellow "Boomer" Sally Jewell, now Madam Secretary of the Interior, often says that one of the main societal influences we are coping with is the transfer of power from the Boomers to the Millennials. With us in the Boomer Boat are Bill and Hillary Clinton, President Obama, Bono, Michael Jordan, Princess Diana, George Clooney, Bill Gates,  J.K. Rowling, Stephen Colbert and Wynton Marsalis. Pretty good company.

The past half century has changed the world and changed us. The early 60's gave us hope and now we seem to have lost it.  The spirit that came from the youth back then propelled us into frontiers of the unknown.  This new generation has got to lead on something besides technology. When all is done you end up with the people. 50 years ago today, the people had the fire. We've got to stick together and make things work.