Hey you kids - get off my lawn!! An observation on Gen-Ys in the workplace

[deckeda]

It is what it is. I badgered my sister (Gen X, barely) to buy a USB hard drive so that she'd have at least one backup for her MacBook. Looked for a decent deal on one. Made her give me her credit card. "You're buying a hard drive today. Call me when it arrives and I'll get you setup with Time Machine." No phone call, still in the box, no backups at all since 2009. Three user accounts depend on that Mac.

[ztirffritz]

rgG wrote:
Reminds me of a Talking Heads song, "same as it ever was."

Every generation has said virtually the same thing about every other generation. We will get by, unless of course the Mayans were right.

Couldn't agree more. The motivated, smart, people with initiative will be successful. Others will emulate them. It will all work out. Not everyone can be brilliant. Not everyone can be stupid. We all have a niche to fill.

[SDGuy]

ztirffritz wrote:
...The motivated, smart, people with initiative will be successful. Others will emulate them. It will all work out...

That's what I expect over the next 10 years or so - a winnowing of people. Workplace Darwinism will sort things out eventually...

[Uncle Wig]

SDGuy wrote:
[quote=ztirffritz]
...The motivated, smart, people with initiative will be successful. Others will emulate them. It will all work out...

That's what I expect over the next 10 years or so - a winnowing of people. Workplace Darwinism will sort things out eventually...
It's not as if everyone in "the good old days" was motivated, smart or had initiative.

[mattkime]

Uncle Wig wrote:
[quote=SDGuy]
[quote=ztirffritz]
...The motivated, smart, people with initiative will be successful. Others will emulate them. It will all work out...

That's what I expect over the next 10 years or so - a winnowing of people. Workplace Darwinism will sort things out eventually...
It's not as if everyone in "the good old days" was motivated, smart or had initiative.
No, but we could smoke at our desks and that more than compensated!

[PeterB]

rgG wrote:
Reminds me of a Talking Heads song, "same as it ever was."

Every generation has said virtually the same thing about every other generation. We will get by, unless of course the Mayans were right.

Unfortunately, it's looking like the Mayans WERE right. They were just off by about 100 years. 8-) ... seriously, if society goes down the tubes, this will be the reason. One of my favorite Lincoln quotes: "The philosophy of the classroom today, will be the philosophy of government tomorrow."

[Numo]

I teach adults. Recently I asked 2 of my students what they thought the most important thing was in determining how successful they were in school. The older Man (77) said, "how hard you work." The young man (20's) said, "how good your teacher is."

I see this less of a generation this or that thing than representative of a gradual decline over time in people's sense of control over their lives. IMO, that's why some people claim that today's teachers aren't good enough - after all, if their kid isn't doing well in school, it's gotta be the teacher's fault, right?

[Black]

SDGuy wrote:
[quote=ztirffritz]
...The motivated, smart, people with initiative will be successful. Others will emulate them. It will all work out...

That's what I expect over the next 10 years or so - a winnowing of people. Workplace Darwinism will sort things out eventually...
Does success in your workplace depend on the quality of an employee's performance?
What's that like?

[The UnDoug]

It's an interesting difference, though. Both are right--just in different ways.

I understand how you can take the 20 something's statement as demonstrating a lack of personal accountability, but we're looking at it through eyes clouded by our own life's experiences.

I've no doubt that most of our parents' generations were saying the same thing.


Or am I just being too touchy-feely, and simply enabling the very behavior I am trying to convince myself may not be there?

[kap]

A 27 year old co-worker lamented about a group of 20-22 year co-workers, "Those damn kids need to grow up already!"