Twentysomething: 7 reasons why my generation is more productive than yours
This post is from Clay Collins, author of the blog The Growing Life.
Generation Y is known for rolling into work late while wearing headphones, and dressing as if every day were casual Friday. We’re often seen TXTing in our cubicles, taking breaks, and instant messaging. While these images don’t exactly encourage others to view us as bastions of uber-productivity, we’re often a hell of a lot more productive than previous generations.
Here are seven reasons why my generation (Generation Y) is often more productive than yours:
Reason 1: We use the best tools
Generation Y is more than comfortable doing the experimentation necessary to find the right tools and technologies for most effectively completing a task. We understand the company’s project management software better than you do because we are comfortable playing with it. And we can probably recommend 2-3 other tools that would work better in the situation because we’re not afraid to rely on nearly-free, online productivity tools from unknown companies. Our to-do lists are carefully maintained, prioritized daily and synced with our PDAs and iPODs.
Reason 2. We’re good at automating
Generation Y has grown up with technology and we believe that computers can do just about anything (or that they will someday). So when we’re receive a task, the first question we ask ourselves is: “how can technology make this task go faster?” Sometimes our efforts to employ technology make things more complicated, but quite often we end up successfully automating a repetitive task, saving ourselves and our companies thousands of dollars.
Reason 3. We get better sleep
Previous generations have lived by Ben Franklin’s aphorism: “early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Generational Y intuitively knows what psychologists have confirmed: that a significant percentage of the population is much more productive when they go to bed late and get up late. Simply put, you’re more productive when you follow your biologically determined circadian rhythms and get up when your body tells you to.
Reason 4: We’re much more likely to love our jobs
Since Generation Y switches jobs much more frequently than previous generations, we’re much more likely to be doing things that (1) we’re good at, and (2) we actually like. All the job switching and repositioning we do means we’re much more likely to end up with professions that are actually suited to our passions and talents. And every productivity guru knows you’re most productive when you’re doing things you actually care about.
Reason 5: We stay up to date in our fields
Another upshot of changing jobs so frequently is the need to stay on top of the latest developments in our fields. Because job searching is a somewhat continual process for Generation Y, we’re likely to teach ourselves new skills, or pay for training, even if our employers don’t because we want to stay competitive. We see training and skill-building as our own responsibility — not something that our employer will necessarily do for us. And our lifestyle choices reflect a passion for constant learning and development .
Reason 6: We’re experimental
Generation Y is continually doing research and development at the individual level. And because Generation Y cares more about getting new experiences and learning new skills than about not making mistakes , we’re willing to try new things, be creative, and take new angles. While this experimental approach might not result in quantifiable productivity, it leads to the kind of shifts in thinking that save time and money over the long haul.
Reason 7: We don’t “go through the motions”
We’ve seen our washed up parents work shit jobs they hate, and we won’t go through the motions for the sake of job security. If you’re an old-school boss, then this won’t be comfortable. However, not going through the motions for the sake of going through the motions actually makes us more productive in the long run.
Clay Collins is author of The Alternative Productivity Manifesto, and Quitting Things and Flakiness: The #1 Productivity Anti-Hack. Clay also writes about lifestyle design at Project Liberation.
While it is great that Gen-Y has embraced the technology of their day, I agree with a prior comment, so did past generations. Technology is great when it works but occasionally you must work without it and that’s where Gen-Y may have a big problem. A previous post had a great suggestion with a slight correction. Work with a mentor to learn the non-technology stuff and help them with the tech stuff. A 50 year old isn’t going to consider a 23 year old a mentor no matter what how much they know but they will be willing to help. That way everyone benefits.
Let’s look past the so-called content. Here’s a guy who knows how to create buzz; has written and sold books. You create buzz in large part by being controversial. Truth generally has little to do with it.
Let’s have a round of applause for Clay, for demonstrating how to successfully promote oneself. Not the least of which is by getting himself a guest slot on Penelope’s blog, one of the current stars in the controversy and buzz-creating business. Marketers and job seekers everywhere, take note.
I have largely ignored the incendiary and non-verifiable assertions (“discussing” or “having constructive dialogue” about said assertions would again create more buzz—witness the response to this post). I say hats off to the marketing genius, who laughs all the way to the bank.
just notice clays comment “It's just to say that, over time, each generation is getting progressively better at scoring well on a test that was designed to test the ability to be productive workers in this modern society. ”
er mate EPIC Fail! you obvisly did not pass statistics 101 you dont grok what a fracking iq test measures do you.
I didn’t know I was still in high school (“why our group is better than yours”)?
Regardless of age, or ‘generation’, humbleness and appreciation for those that you can learn from (yikes, that may mean people who are older than you-!-) goes a long way.
Arrogance and a sense of entitlement only makes you look like a jerk, (I don’t care how old, or young, you are, it’s offputting at any age).
Clay,
I encourage you to explore the diversification in the Millennial generation. I am on the cusp of Gen X and the Millennial. In addition, I prepare Millennial students for success in their career trajectories. Thus far, professionals studying generations at work have only considered the middle class to upper middle class Millennial population (this would be twenty-somethings that can afford to stay current with technological trends), not the millions of Millennials that come from a less affluent socio-economic background. Class can be a beautiful equalizer in the workplace. While technology can certainly be one way to qualify the advantages of a generation, personality is personality. I find that my less affluent Millennial students tend to be more successful than my more affluent Millennial students. I say this harboring on the edge of grossly generalizing, but still. Could it be that they work hard because they have no other choice? Professional laziness is professional laziness. I think all generations share that, but I am inclined to believe that this is a trait that becoming increasingly commonplace for a certain class of Millennials. Perhaps the Millennials that had the “helicopter parents” in college are at a less of an advantage than the Millennials who did not. Again, I am connecting dots at the risk of making obscene generalizations. I think that the topic of class diversification in generations will be one that professionals will need to explore as they develop strategies to minimize all generation’s challenges and maximize their strengths in the work place. Thoughts?
Motivated, intelligent and emotionally mature people span generations. This ain’t anything new. The same old claptrap gets spouted by each generation while they’re in their twenties – it’s a hallmark of the arrogance of youth and the voice of inexperience.
It was a good laugh though. I spotted stuff in there that I said in my twenties.
There’s a kinder, gentler version of Clay on The Growing Life. Based on this post, I thought he’d be the poster child for self-entitlement. While he typifies the parents of Gen Y as “washed up,” he personally thanks his for teaching him how to be an unreal person. According to that particular post, we should aspire to be unreal, not real people. I guess their washed up jobs gave Clay the means and foundation for all of them to have an unreal life.
Being a money person, I was looking for some hint of his impoverished young adult life so I could make an example of him. But what I found is a pretty cool guy (who left home at 15 to start his first business), living his edition of the Secret, with a revenue stream he’s grateful for (an income snowball as he calls it) and a professional life that exudes abundance. Clay’s peers and Gen X could all learn something by taking note.
I just have to say a big congratulations to Clay! You may not know/remember me but we were in the same class in college…But besides that point, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the post.
I usually cringe when I read the “my generation is better than your generation” post, but I think you missed the biggest attribute the younger generation has…networking.
Gen Y/X seems to get more done through their peer groups and their peer groups are ever expanding. Much of this is technology driven, and I don’t give anyone much credit for ‘e-lationships’ (# of myspace friends).
Business is, and always will be, about relationships. Technology has enabled introverts and people who don’t want to kill time at happy hours the ability to connect and maitain a valuable network. This generation has certainly mastered these skills.
Find ways to bridge the generation gap and get past the ‘my gen’ versus ‘your gen’ garbage.
Ageism is not cool.
This post seems totally inconsistent with Clay’s writings in is The Growing Life blog. Over there, he seems like someone you’d root for to succeed, not someone who stirs up the pot for the sake of self-promotion.
I tend to believe Clay’s heart is in the right place, but intentionally crafted this post to fit some of the themes Penelope covers (generational differences). In the process of trying to be interesting, he came off as arrogant.
Just be yourself, Clay.
@Queercents
You’re right. And that’s what is so disappointing about this post on PT’s site. It seems completely out of character with the revolutionary, optimistic spirit Clay nourishes on his own blog.
It seems as if all PT is about is self-promotion. It that is her fundamental career advice for these young men and women of Gen Y, we can see the toxic effect it has by witnessing Clay’s transmogrification.
Big Thanks for this post!
Every word rings true. Enjoy reading your blog and will def look into your books.
:)
Farida
I’m kind of getting tired of people using generation classifications to justify a particular work style. Hey, I’m and old Gen X guy but I stay on top of current technology, I read Blogs obviously, I text on my phone, my music no longer has a physical presence, I serf the web even without having a reason, I’m on Linked in, myspace, face book, and others. I even do a lot of this stuff while at work. The difference is, I actually give a shit about getting the work done and having it done when I said it would be done (always looking for more efficient methods including automation).
My point is this, I understand the stereotyping of the various generations and that is fine. However, no matter what generation you are, you have the ability care about and take pride in your work. And it is okay to want others to have a positive perception of your work ethic. A lot of these posts remind me of they way kids in high school used to act. If they sucked at sports for example, they just said, I don’t need to play these stupid sports, I’m too cool anyway. Rather then taking on something they were good at, they chose to blow off potential in other areas and go smoke out back. Others might have sucked at School Work, so they just chose to be mediocre in study rather then understand what was preventing them from exceeding mediocrity. I think your intention with this Blog was to illustrate how your generation is more productive however, all you have done is demonstrated why a good portion of your generation continues down the road of Mediocrity.
I have hired many Gen Y’s that are smart, hard workers, get the job done fast and efficiently, automate where possible and guess what… They show up on time, don’t abuse the dress code, have a good work ethic and attitude, actually care about they way people perceive their work, and more importantly, how they are perceived as a person. These are the leaders of tomorrow. As for myself, and these hard working Gen Y’s with a good work ethic, we would like to thank all you Gen Y slackers that think you have some right to live and work in your own lazy, content, mediocre style. Thanks to you, it is very easy to be successful in business today. Thank You for setting the standards so fucking low, that those of us that give a shit are easily advancing and finally getting fair compensation. Keep up the slacking!
From a dinosaur, and as an antidote to Clay’s 7 points, I propose the following 7 attributes for success:
1) Communication via the direct route, formerly known as “people skills,” including honesty in speaking as well as sincere listening;
2) Analysis & logic in one’s own brain, prior to and apart from analysis and logic as it exists in computers;
3) Problem-solving with and without the assist of technology;
4) Global responsibility and an altruistic impulse towards global issues;
5) Ethics and ethical decision-making;
6) Ongoing efforts to see the big picture;
7) Humility as we begin to perceive the big picture over a long lifetime.
CAK
To all the insightful folk who have responded so far, I am surprised that no one noted that this appears to be the content of the negative ads put out by McCain v Obama. Does anyone else see an application here?
CAK
Ahh to be twenty and know everything again…
“We're much more likely to love our jobs”
and the next line is…
“Since Generation Y switches jobs much more frequently”
Where is the love here? Why switch.
———————————————-
"how can technology make this task go faster?"
and the next line is…
“Sometimes our efforts to employ technology make things more complicated…”
At least we can have complication at a more productive rate.
———————————————-
“cares more about getting new experiences and learning new skills…”
“might not result in quantifiable productivity…”
“leads to the kind of shifts in thinking that save time and money…”
Are these skills productive or not?
Some very contradictory ideas here.
Generation X and the generation before that created the iPods that Generation Y are lapping up.
If owning an iPod and PDA makes you feel important, productive and like you know it all – more power to you.
In their natural habitat the Gen Y’er can often be seen TXTing in their cubicles, taking breaks, and instant messaging. Known for rolling into work late while wearing head phones, because they took the bus…everyday is tattoo and designer jeans day!
Clay I think you got suckered by pop culture created by Gen X.
Keep consuming baby!
Most Gen Xers could probably dig ditch faster than I would, or run faster, or party harder (well probably not party harder) but I think I get my point.
Certain attributes diminish with age, others become better honed. That’s life now and in the future when your kids think you are ready for blue hair and a permanent vacation in a Florida retirement facility at 40:)
Your way of saying this though has alot of undies in a bunch but it is a universal truth. The young are quick, but with age (should) comes wisdom.
Keep writing kid, you have a bright future
My old 2cents worth:)
Clay writes: “…we're not afraid to rely on nearly-free, online productivity tools from unknown companies…”
@boon
Yes! My first thought was, “oh my god, think of the security risks of having some unknown company maintaining all of your project data! And how will teams share data?”
Anyway, I am on the cusp of X&Y myself (more Y than X) and I think this is a lot of BS. In the surface, I agree that yes, I am probably more productive than my older counterparts, in terms of output. But I am in no way more productive in terms of success. My boss (cusp of X & boomer) has 20 years on me and there is no tool or training in the world that is equal to an additional 20 years of life/work experience. He can solve problems in five minutes that I’ve been mulling over and researching for a week. Productivity doesn’t matter too much when all you can claim is that you’re fast.
Charming. The irony of “The Growing Life” is not lost on me.
Thanks for this! I am SO tired of hearing boomers and X-ers wax on about how underrated/arrogant/silly/unengaged our generation is. It's insulting and untrue and I'm sick to death of it. It seems like every time I have a conversation with an older person about the future of work/politics/economics – whatever- it turns into them giving me a million reasons why “nothing will ever change–you’ll see. You'll be just as cynical as we are one day, so there's no use trying.” I am so over it.
Clay, thanks for pointing out how we might actually get stuff done. Really. Good work!
p.s. Clay's post was about how much more *productive* we are; not how much “better” we are. It seems that certain commenters are protesting waaaay too much.
Also, in order to analyze these things some generalizations are necessary. Of COURSE not every twenty-something knows a lot about technology, and not every boomer is ignorant about it. But the data suggests that the twenty-something is more likely to know about technology than the boomer.
Being angry about it doesn't make it any less true.
Jennifer, the irony of your post is superb.
Sounds like you’re describing Generation X to me. Who invented all these tools you’re describing?
All of this is missing the point anyway. As Penelope constantly writes, your interpersonal skills are far more important than your productivity and how good you are at the technical side of your job. Strolling into work late, wearing headphones and texting from your cubicle might not stop you doing your job well but it’s all about perception.
Intrigued by Ashe’s comment about working 8-5. Surely an 8am start isn’t normal? Back in Australia we used to talk about the 9-5 and in the UK a 9.30am start is quite usual. I’m not sure where the extra hour came from – it’s meant to be an 8 hour working day after all.
Penelope, these Twenty-Something posts are getting a bit repetitive. This is the first one for a while, but those of us who are longterm readers have read this all before. It’s a different byline but it’s the essentially the same post – and it’s attracting the same old comments too.
There are so many interesting things a 20-something could write about in regards to their experience in the workforce. I don’t want to read about what makes their generation different or special – they can tell me that 20 years from now. But I would like to hear about the experience of a college graduate job hunting, their experiences in their first job, how they manage their careers a few years down the track when they’re starting to go for midlevel positions and decide what they want to focus on.
But you know what? I would also like to hear from women dealing with maternity leave and childcare, the workplace experience of minorities (beyond anti-Christmas flame bait), how older people deal with retrenchment, how people retire earlyor work beyond retirement. I would like to hear real, specific stories that may or may not illustrate a wider trend, not just generalisations.
I would also like to hear about different types of jobs. Reading this blog, you’d be forgiven for thinking the only two options are corporate office job v entrepreneurship. How does one get to be a photographer or an opera singer? What’s it like being a tour guide or a teacher or a farmer?
The generation stuff was a vein of gold for you but it’s been exhausted and it’s time to dig deeper and give us something new.
I’m really enjoying your posts lately by the way – the more narrative writing style works for me.
You are loosing readers by writing in such an arrogant tone. I admire your obvious creativity and intelligence and I always read your blog in hopes of finding some nugget of inspiration. But lately I’ve been very disappointed by the lack of depth in your writing and research. This post in particular is just a simple insult to the hard working previous generations. I agree with some of your observations about the acceptance of technology in gen-y. But any gen-y who thinks they can produce more value to the corporate world than a more experienced worker is just a fool. Like the Bible says, “humility is before honor.”
Gen Y invented sex, too.
Why does every generation think they’re the original rebels and new thinkers?
I was sure WE were…Boomers sucked, Gen Jones knew better, but then Xers came, etc…
Nothing new, Junior. Hang in there though…You’ll read/hear/see/telepathically input the same idea in a few years…
Clay, that was an interesting post. Thank you for that. Now get me a cup of coffee. And make it snappy! Don’t stall for time with Starbucks wireless service.
I think these are ideas that everyone should take on board to achieve a better balance….not just gen y.
PS – I think gen x is starting to take a lot of these ideas on, however it has just taken them longer to do it.
My goodness! Such rancor among the generations. All right, kids, I’m a 40yo single mom of 2. The LOST generation. The one no one ever talks about. The kids of the early Boomers. And IMHO, y’all all need to take a deep breath and stop flinging poo at each other.
I taught myself BASIC in the early 1980s, and added Pascal, MLX/machine language, and Fortran in high school, and went on to college-level BASIC and Advanced BASIC. I was the first person in the history of my college to tutor a computer class at the same time I was taking it — couldn’t skip the core courses, even if you could pass the final on day one. I developed computer systems and protocols at the first three jobs I had after graduation from college.
You know when I got behind on technology? When I started raising the next generation. When you shift your focus from keeping up with your peers to keeping up with your kids, your life changes. It’s inevitable. Even after I re-entered the work-force, I didn’t have the time to devote to learning like I did when I was young. But I fit in as much as I can, when I can.
Now as for the generational pissing contest, EVERY generation that has ever been, or ever will be, is different than the preceding ones. The world changes, and the generations change with it. Knowledge is lost as new knowledge is generated. My kids don’t know what an LP is … I grew up listening to 45s and 78s on a pint-size turntable. My baby brother doesn’t remember a time when there weren’t CDs; I remember 8-track. I drive a car all the time; my grandmother remembers when a car was a novelty, and only rich people had them.
Get over the differences already, and celebrate the similarities. We all want to get ahead. We all want to raise our kids to have more, do more, and be better than ourselves. It’s just the definitions that change as the technology and the world change.
I’m a 35-year-old parent who’s tech-savvy. I don’t take offense to your comments, but instead I just shake my head and remind myself how thankful I am that all the stuff I wrote in my early 20s isn’t online! It would be so embarrassing to look at now. People are so arrogant when they’re young. The trick is growing older & wiser while keeping your youthful spirit and shedding the pretentiousness.
By the way, was it your generation that invented all this technology?
PT,
Thanks for sharing this article. This helps shed some light on how “Gen Y” thinks as I mentor quite a few of these individuals. I do see a gap between generations as I fall into Generation X. I do see a lack of respect for the other generations as they have paved the way for us.
Well, I guess every generation feels they are better than the other. This will always be an ongoing battle.
Every generation has good points, and every generation thinks they are better than the one before. Too bad so many of you still live in your parents’ homes. I think that’s going to come back to bite you in the long run. Life is short. Get out there on your own.
That’s seven good reasons
@ Editormum:
“..I'm a 40yo single mom of 2. The LOST generation. The one no one ever talks about.”
Actually you will find that yours is Generation X, which is not where all this labelling business started but where it started getting traction. :-)
right on, editormum!
@VigilanteNighthawk and Katie–thanks a lot for your responses–you totally validate my suspicions about all the teen “gunners” with their million activities and GT courses. I always say that by the time one of these kids graduates from college or grad school, they’ll be so burnt out they’ll be ready for retirement and not at all up for the careers they were presumably busting their asses for.
There should be a blog or book geared towards these overachieving teens (probably are already some, I’m sure) telling them how it is once the dust has settled and they’ve worn themselves out with academics and activities. Seems to me that would be a good use of Gen-Y expertise; rather than trying to sell Gen-Xers and Boomers on why they’re better, how about telling teens/undergrads to scale it back because it’s not worth it in the end? I’m sure parents everywhere would hate you though ;)
Perhaps #8 should be, “We’re self-aggrandizing.”
This post helps justify my thoughts & stereotypes of Gen Yers.
1) they are know-it-alls who can’t listen to advice
2) They have little big picture perspective of the real world since they are the first generation that didn’t keep score in sports & stayed inside on the computer during the summer instead of being out in neighborhood playing with other kids.
3) They are not team players & damage morale of the staff by coming in late & playing by their own rules.
This attitude that “your boss is out to screw you so screw him first” attitude is damaging to a career. I’ll give Gen Yers credit only for knowing new technology but any intelligent Gen Xer or baby boomer can be trained.
I actually hope that what you say is accurate, despite the arrogance of it. If Gen Y really is as “productive” as you claim, then could you “pls” fix the housing market, gas prices, and malfunctioning voting booths? “k thx”
As someone who’s about as Gen-Y as she can get (I’m 25, a recent MA graduate with an exciting and shiny new job, and I live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn… let’s just skip right past all the skinny jeans jokes), I will concede that Clay’s tone is far too arrogant. It’s completely pointless to get where you’re going without remembering where you’ve been, and I think that’s the biggest mistake Clay makes in this post. It’s a shame if his attitude is accepted as typical of my generation, because the truth is there are a lot of bright, sensitive, open-minded youngsters roaming the world. We see our parents not as “washed up” but as brilliant thinkers. As trailblazers. Sure, we think it’s funny when their text messages come to us signed “Love, Dad”, but we also know our moms can do long division in their heads while we can barely divide up a bar tab without our handy tip calculators. I can type a hundred words a minute and find anything on the internet in ten seconds flat, but come on, my dad went to Woodstock. We get it. We’re young, but we weren’t born yesterday.
We’re the generation that was raised to believe there is no “better” and “worse” – only “different” – but it seems to me that the people here bickering over which generation gets the gold star are the ones who beat that ideal into our heads in the first place. So let’s all pretend we’re grownups for a minute and face what’s right about Clay’s post: today’s twentysomethings are the current crop of people who are “old enough to know and young enough not to say no”, as a song says. We’re smart, we’re ambitious, and we’re relatively burden-free. This is our time, so get used to it. Give us our due, because you all know perfectly well how quickly it’ll be over.
Very intelligently put Lindsey.
Do you blog anywhere?:)
Not Being An Asshole Boss May Boost Employee Morale
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Yep, I’d agree with a lot of comments up there – the points of this post is an admirable one, but the tone shoots it in the foot. No need to be sniffy about “the opposition” (whose shoulders you’re standing on).
Getting past the tone, the points are very stimulating and worthy of heaps of discussion (I see that’s taken place. More fool me for missing out on it until now).
There’s one thing that need definition, though: productivity.
Gen Y is absolutely blindingly brilliant at multitasking a social-networking and having a squillion balls in the air. But I’d argue that this way of working can foster superficiality, a skimming of the surface because you simply don’t have time – a lack of depth. There’s one plus about ‘going through the motions’ (perhaps the only one) and it’s that sometimes, it’s the only way to get real deep into something. If your attention span is become goldfishized by the mental traps of multitasking, you might give up before you get anywhere useful. Sometimes there are short cuts – but are they useful, better ways….or are they *short cuts*?
Productivity is volume, not width.
@The Onion — awesome!
I’m replying to this post for a second time, just to help get Clay up to 100 responses. I posted early in the game, then left the topic because, after all, we’re starting to all say the same thing. But I came back to it today out of curiosity.
As I read postings, I’m reminded of how the media portrays Gen Y and how, as a parent of 20-yr-olds, I find it irritating. The media focuses on Gen Y’s inability to grow up and settle down. Yet when I look at my children, their friends and other people their age, I see some pretty phenomenal people.
No, they haven’t settled down in the sense we did at their age. They are constantly switching jobs and they’re not getting married or having kids. Who cares? As long as they’re taking care of themselves and don’t expect me to finance them.
My kids and their friends have traveled the world over. They have done humanitarian projects, joined the Peace Corp and done pro-bono work. But credit goes both ways. Yes, Gen Y are adventurous and noble people but they also have grown up in a world connected by technology, making it smaller and more accessible than it ever has been. They also grew up with the encouragement of their parents to do these things, whereas my generation was encouraged to “go out and get a job…”
Finally, here’s one factor we haven’t covered at all regarding Gen Y: The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Yes, Gen X is fighting the war. And yes, probably there are still Gen Jones and Baby Boomers fighting. But it’s Gen Y that’s going over as young 19-20 yr and doing a majority of the dirty work. They are a whole generation of people that have lost limbs and will suffer a lifetime of emotional baggage. That baggage will carry over into their children’s lives.
Editormum was right on when she said each generation is different than its predecessors. If they weren’t, society would not be evolving. Eh, each generation evolves as it ages, does it not? And yes, as editormom said, we should stop the pissing contest because for each difference we have, we can also find a similarity.
We should be the first era of generations to get along and work well together – it’s very likely we’ll be in the workforce with each other for quite a long time.
You may be younger and more productive, but I’m older and sneakier. If it’s generation warfare you want, bring it on!
(said with tongue planted firmly in cheek, a characteristic that ages well)
As much as I found this post irritating in its arrogance (kiddo, you haven’t HAD the problems and losses to overcome yet – the ones that make you a strong and better person – but they come to everyone so you will, and check back in then on your awesomeness) I guess I’m a little bit Gen Y too at 38. I roll in (to my flexible hours professional job) when I do, because I know better than the older guys where the tools are and I get better work done faster. While dressing in a businessy way that still lets them know “I am not you.” I won’t say anything about loving my job, since that changes day by day, but I’m sure not going to be one of those sad, pathetic figures who thinks that showing up at 8 am and conforming are they keys to success. Conformity is death.
I’ve never thought of my late 60s parents as washed up, but I find it profoundly sad and disturbing when the 50s/60s colleagues of my Dad or my self (for example, the 58 year old down the hall who had to take 1 week sick time post-op) cannot seem to find life or meaning outside of work. Their identities WERE IBM-man, or General Motors-man, or Exxon-man, or Shearman & Sterling-man, and they seem lost and miserable when retired or forced to stay home after a bypass. There is so much of value and interest in this world, so very little of it at those jobs, how sad that they have it all backwards.
I must say that your first mistake was in opening your mouth. Your lack of respect for yourself and others shows! I must be ancient in your mind but I must tell you that I have worked for supervisors with your mindset and the lack of respect they showed for their subordinates was shocking. I am one of those people that was required to work long and hard just to make the new “fresh out of college” department supervisor “look good”. I was responsible for all tasks in my department while my new supervisor spent hours on the phone with her sister-in-law (actually timed one phone call at 2 hours)when she wasn’t using new technology to browse the web for recipes, furniture, clothing and real estate. No lie! The girl could not spell worth crap! Not even with spell check! Wanted to know if “pallet” was spelled with one “L” or two. During our wonderful weekly meetings this aforesaid “sup” took credit for everything that I had accomplished. I quit giving her any info that she could use in these meetings. The department manager actually came to me and told me that it was my job to “make her look good”. I asked him to put it in writing. He did. I will not even begin to tell you the times that I had to cover for the “Y’s” when they wanted to spend a long weekend at the lake or to go bowling.
It has been pretty much the same story since the “Y’s” have gotten it into their heads that technology has somehow made them superior. Nothing can replace hard work and respect for yourself and others.