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Gen Yers lack confidence, behave like idiots

thegig.blogs.fortune.cnn.com

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Re: Gen Yers lack confidence, behave like idiots

#11

Post by pgebhard »

mynameishere wrote: post #8

This sort of thing is an old, old sport. http://thinkexist.com/quotes/hesiod/ I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint. ~700 BC

Maybe it's this perpetual chastising by the older generations that gradually "teaches" the younger generations. What if the older generations never said this sort of stuff? Would the younger generation never grow out of it? Just wondering. I'm a 23yr old myself.

Re: Gen Yers lack confidence, behave like idiots

#12

Post by sapphirecat »

edw519 wrote: post #4

Another "everyone in the same age group is the same" post. All boomers are... All Gen Xers are... All Gen Yers are... Yeah, right. This is just an excuse for lazy journalism (is there any other kind any more?) Would have been nice if the author dug a little deeper to try to understand why none of the 7 people answered the phone. To his credit, he brought up several good points: "They’re trained to work in teams — in…

"I have always thought that real responsibility is learned "on the job". Delay work, delay responsibility."

Amen to that one. My grandfather invested some money on my behalf when I was born, so when I graduated from college, I burned through $10K of it without a second thought. Then I finally swallowed my pride, got a job working minimum wage, and suddenly gained new appreciation for the value of money. Discovering that buying lunch is essentially equivalent to eating an hour's worth of work will do that.

It's also easy to post on Slashdot "what a whiner!" whenever a story comes up about $OSS_SOFTWARE not fulfilling $BUSINESS_NEED. That's another perspective that disappears quickly when working for a real business. You really do need to be making money to have a viable business (long-term), and no amount of idealism changes that.

If I could go back and give myself one piece of advice, it would be "get a crappy job before you're 22."

Re: Gen Yers lack confidence, behave like idiots

#15

Post by gills »

gaius wrote: post #10
mynameishere wrote: post #8

This sort of thing is an old, old sport. http://thinkexist.com/quotes/hesiod/ I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint. ~700 BC

That quote is often trotted out but all it actually means that is at some point in history, people thought that the kids of today are soft. It doesn't imply any continuity between that thought then and the same thought now.

Maybe there is something to it. All of the great civilizations eventually collapsed.

Re: Gen Yers lack confidence, behave like idiots

#16

Post by username2 »

edw519 wrote: post #4

Another "everyone in the same age group is the same" post. All boomers are... All Gen Xers are... All Gen Yers are... Yeah, right. This is just an excuse for lazy journalism (is there any other kind any more?) Would have been nice if the author dug a little deeper to try to understand why none of the 7 people answered the phone. To his credit, he brought up several good points: "They’re trained to work in teams — in…

I don't see "All Gen Yers" in the article.

Re: Gen Yers lack confidence, behave like idiots

#17

Post by justindz »

The professor might also be an overbearing tool bag or the class might not be particularly worth the effort (I've had a few of these). Anecdotal evidence like this is junk.

My dad showed me his report card from Kindergarten once. He barely passed because "Eddie has trouble whistling and skipping in a straight line." When he got in to Dylan, it was all over for his potential as a productive and intelligent human.

Of course, he's a published author and editor of poetry, novels and non-fiction, humor columnist, wilderness advocate, sometimes environmental lobbyist, motivational speaker and researcher/writer/editor for the beautifully designed black-bordered brochures you get at our national parks.

And still loves Dylan (Bob and Thomas). And he's my hero. And he figured out how to whistle and skip in line somewhere along the way.

Re: Gen Yers lack confidence, behave like idiots

#18

Post by jcl »

gills wrote: post #15
gaius wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That quote is often trotted out but all it actually means that is at some point in history, people thought that the kids of today are soft. It doesn't imply any continuity between that thought then and the same thought now.

Maybe there is something to it. All of the great civilizations eventually collapsed.

I agree -- the logic is inescapable: Complaining about kids brings about the collapse of civilization. :)

Re: Gen Yers lack confidence, behave like idiots

#19

Post by tx »

mynameishere wrote: post #8

This sort of thing is an old, old sport. http://thinkexist.com/quotes/hesiod/ I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint. ~700 BC

Whatever. Living with your parents in your 20s is disgusting, sir.

Re: Gen Yers lack confidence, behave like idiots

#20

Post by bkovitz »

olefoo wrote: post #3

Didn't I read the same article back in 1993? One thing that the article does get right is that people are treated and act like adolescents until their 30's or even 40's and it's now considered socially acceptable (to a point). But that's a longterm demographic and cultural trend that's been going on since World War II.

There is an important demographic shift happening, and anyone starting a business that rides a large social wave would be wise to pay attention to it.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the younger generation was put down as cynical, slackers, no good, apathetic, criminal, etc. They were seen as too individualistic, not group-oriented enough. The Gen Y generational put-downs are new: too group-oriented, lacking individual initiative, too nice, "coddled", etc. There's underlying truth in both kinds of put-down, even if (of course) they don't apply to every person in each generation. As Gen Y gets older, the optimism, group orientation, and lack of individual initiative will become even more clear. For one thing, they'll seek strong leadership from government. And of course, the changing demographic will both create and destroy business opportunities.

Strauss 7 Howe's books _Generations_ and _The Fourth Turning_ make a lot of interesting observations (and predictions) about this.

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