Harnessing Goldfish: Understanding the Millennials or Gen-Hope (white paper)

Harnessing Goldfish Managing Millennials – Your Best Asset, Or Your Worst Headache

—A White Paper—

2012 © Unlimited Consulting —Harnessing Goldfish— Page 1 of 10 www.kimberleyheart.com [email protected]

Working with the Millennials can feel as burdened with frustration and futility as it would be to attempt to harness goldfish. Goldfish cannot be harnessed, and the Millennials are just as likely to slip their bits if they feel trapped by the old-school processes of business. If we wish to understand the Millennial generation, aka Gen Y, those who were born between 1980 and 20001, we must ask them for guidance in how best to work with them. That’s right, we must break the rules from the outset and ask them. We need to know, in each of our unique business environments, how they process information, how they view the world, and how they connect with each other and with us. And here is the kicker: not only must we ask them how best to work with them, but how we ask also matters. If you think about this statement, it makes good business sense. As seasoned professionals, we know that how we approach and communicate with our customer base is key to our success in business. So, think of the Millennials in your work environment from the same perspective. For some time now, I have been traveling around the U.S. for the sole purpose of learning from the Millennial generation. I could have just stayed at home and depended upon other people's perspectives, and the myriad studies written about the Millennial generation. But our general lack of success in integrating the Millennials into the workplace has proven that this approach does not work. (If you are interested in some of the respected studies on the millennial generation they are referenced at the end of this paper for your convenience. I will offer you one word of caution: the incredibly fast-moving business, social, economic, and international environments have made some of these studies obsolete.) So instead of staying at home, I set out to find small groups of willing Millennials, and spent time sitting with them to glean the real truths about what makes them tick. And I made sure that in doing so we would break the rules from the very start. I left my mask and persona at home and risked being as authentic as I know how to be. What right did I have to ask them to be vulnerable and share of themselves, if I refused to expose my vulnerability? Sitting in pizza joints, rib bars, coffee shops, stairs on the quads, and lunchrooms at work I discovered that getting answers from the Millennials is complex. The questions I asked, and how and when I asked them, in what environment I asked them – all determined whether I created enough safety for them to share of themselves. In my journeys, 1 There is an ongoing disagreement as to when the millennial generation actually starts and ends. In as much as most other’s start-and-end dates are plus or minus three years, I have chosen to define the generation as those born between 1980 and 2000.


—A White Paper—


I asked them to do something most of us rarely attempt, and that was to be utterly exposed. I asked them, through my own example, to lower their societal masks and to be genuine. I asked them to meet me person-to-person, soul-to-soul. I was honored that many did just that. We are all raised to wear masks in the workplace. We learn very quickly not to be totally honest, or to expose ourselves. This archaic interpersonal approach to relating is destroying our businesses. Lest you think I am exaggerating, I can tell you that for thirty years I have been a strategic management consultant and confidant to CEOs. One of my key functions has always been to tell them what no one else will tell them, i.e.: what was really happening in their own place of business. Regardless of the hierarchy or culture, few are willing to tell the boss the truth. So why should Millennials be any different? The plain, and not-so-simple, truth is that we, in the business world, must be willing to work with other generations. However, to do so successfully we must risk breaking through old behaviors and patterns. We must be willing to lower our masks and protective shields; then and only then, can we ask Millennials to lower theirs to teach us how to effectively work with them. With this accomplished, a new way of communicating can be born and a new culture can be germinated in the work environment. Everyone will benefit, especially the company’s bottom line. Understanding the Millennials Strengths and Weaknesses The Millennial generation is a paradox. It is the most entitled generation America has ever produced, and yet many are willing to sacrifice personal comfort and accolades in order to serve the planet. They struggle with independent decision-making, and yet are the least judgmental and bigoted generation we’ve ever produced. They are the most legally medicated generation, and yet they are the most cloistered and protected. In the work environment we expect them to think decisively and independently, to trust our decision-making and our wisdom. Frankly, why should they? Previous authority figures have ill-prepared them for the realities of the Baby Boomer’s (1946-1964) work environment. Consequently, the first step in learning how to work with Millennials involves understanding what I researched and then discovered for myself: namely the Millenials core weaknesses and strengths.


—A White Paper—


Weaknesses

Many Millennials are told they are the best, even when they are not. They are told this, if not by our words, then by our actions. The message is that they are special (Howe & Nadler 2010). Their lives have been structured for them from kindergarten on: parent-initiated “play dates,” cell phones, personal computers, music videos, and video games. Internet search engines, instead of the reference desk at the library, became a normal part of grade school, and then high school. Academic testing and learning measured short-term memory, rather than instilling an appreciation and understanding of complex issues (Vandergriff, Donald E CTR (US), personal email, 2012). College requirements demanded over scheduling them to the point where many Millennials work eighty-hour weeks just to prepare for the possibility of college acceptance. All of this coalesces to create part of the Millennial personality, a persona that is alien to the Boomers who still hold the reins of power in America’s businesses. The “American Enterprise” is not alone in its quandary in how to successfully integrate the Millennial generation. The unique personality of the Millennials has been an issue for universities and colleges for over a decade. Universities have had to shift their expectations about what to expect from their freshman classes, and adopt new teaching modalities. They’ve had to set up special counseling and guidance programs to support the millennial generation. College professors shake their heads at the Millennial’s sense of entitlement and lack of survival skills in negotiating the world of the university. And yet, those same professors are awed by the Millennial's immersion into technology and their capacity to use their tech-savvy skill sets to enhance their learning. Universities and colleges have been reinventing themselves to adapt to the new realities of the Millennial generation; we in the business community need to catch up. In my conversations with Millennials, I have discovered that there are two qualities that drive them, qualities that are rarely discussed even at the university level: their feelings of being lost and their intense loneliness. In my observations, Millennials are the loneliest generation we have ever created. That seems paradoxical to the untutored observer, because it appears as if they are always “connecting” to someone in one form of media or another. One astute Millennial with whom I spoke said, “Everybody believes they know everything about you, and yet they really don’t know you—not at all. Just because we post a picture of our happy grinning faces on Facebook, and pretend that everything is okay, doesn’t mean that it is.”


—A White Paper—


It appears to the Boomers that Millennials are willing to reveal every intimate detail about their lives to the world. But, when you speak with them, if you actually listen to what they say, they will tell you consistently that they are lonely. They will tell you, in their own vernacular (which I paraphrase here), that they do not know how to be open, tender, vulnerable, trusting, and caring to themselves. They do not know how to take all of their achievements and hard work, and yes their sense of specialness and entitlement, and translate those into connecting, heart-to-heart with themselves or with another human being. In short, even with all of their vast team experience, they don't feel like they belong. Because these two qualities (lost and lonely) are rarely discussed, I asked each and every Millennial I meet if they believed that other Millennials were lonely or felt lost. The anecdotal answer, universally, was a resounding yes. Why does this matter to us in the business world? Simple, Millennials are our future, and there are, depending on whose statistics you believe, about 75 million of them. What they think, what they believe and how they feel matters in regards to their ability to enhance the work environment. Knowing what they think and believe matters in how we train them and how they re-train us. For instance, loneliness can be abated by assigning every Millennial new-hire a mentor in the form of a recent hire. The recent hire gains confidence by being entrusted with the mentorship of the “newbie”. The new-hire, now attached to a mentor is not alone, nor will they feel lost. A group of Millennials could be assigned to an experienced Baby Boomer, one that is adept at mentoring, so wisdom can be passed on. In this way, Millennials will know they have an understanding voice to represent them, even perhaps at the board level. Strengths The millennial generation has extraordinary capacity to imagine. They not only think outside the box, they never knew there was a box. They are willing to work hard and crave to make a difference. Millennials are not only willing to work hard, they actually bring “value added” to the workplace because they are innovators. They look for easier and faster ways to accomplish things. Give them legitimate boundaries and then stand back, they will create something new that will serve your business. Many claim that Millennials are not economically driven. Studies argue this point (Noveck & Tompson, 2007). When I spoke to the Millennials, they reminded me of their huge college debts, parents in jeopardy of losing their homes, a worldwide economic crisis, and a society that measures respect by monetary


—A White Paper—


achievement. So, yes, they can be driven by monetary considerations, but it is not all that drives them. As noted earlier, Millennials want to belong. Provide them an environment where they can thrive and they will be loyal to you. They keep America’s businesses on its proverbial toes, giving direct feedback about the quality of the workplace. If we are losing Millennials to other work environments, then the quality of our work environment needs improving. Millennials like to compete with themselves. They need structure and want to keep score. Productive team environments that allow them to collaborate and produce are heaven for most Millennials. Paradoxically, while it is true that Millennials need structure, it is important to note that they were raised on video games. Video games have rules but they are rarely written down and the rules change as the game advances. That’s right, the rules can change in the middle of the game. This would drive most Boomers to pull out their hair, but for Millennials this is “just the way it is.” This “gaming conditioning” gives business some real flexibility in the workplace. Millennials are more then willing to have the rules change as they advance. But, we need to explain why the rules change, and how the change works to the benefit of the Millennials. Do note that the Millennials will test our rules. Think about it, Boomers tested and broke rules and the world is better for it. The same will be said about the Millennials. Millennials are sometimes known as “crash test geniuses” (Degraffenreid, 2011). If our rules hold up, under the Millennials’ testing and retesting, then keep them. If the rules do not hold up, re-evaluate and ask the Millennials for suggestions as to what would work better. Testing old rules and processes is a good thing: it keeps our businesses flexible and innovative. Without these qualities our businesses will die. Perhaps one of the most underplayed strengths that Millennials bring into the work environment is that they appear to be wired differently than the rest of us. They were raised with video games, television, and movies, which some professionals are asserting has increased their brain capacity for imagination, the most important tool of creation. (Haxton, 2011). Today, with so many business foundations crumbling, it is going to take new (not old revised) ways of doing business. The Millennials naturally bring “the new,” and if we are smart we will work with them to create a bridge to the future.


—A White Paper—


Millennials’ Weaknesses and Strengths

Weaknesses Strengths Entitled Self-sacrificing and philanthropic Legally medicated Extraordinary capacity to

imagine Lonely Technically agile/often brilliant

networkers Lost Readily accept mentoring, need

structure Need frequent feedback (often daily)

“Can-do” attitude

Used to a menu-driven environment

Eager for strategic challenges to enhance innovation

Must have a vision of their career path

Veterans at teamwork

Impatient and demanding Work well with diverse populations

Fun-loving Hard working Yearn to make a difference The bridge to the future

Training Training Millennials forces us to reinvent learning for everyone in the work environment. This much-needed, fresh air will improve the learning environment for all. The best way to teach Millennials is through active learning, or “see one, do one, teach one.” This training methodology will be discussed in a later white paper entitled “New Tricks for Old Dogs.” When we bring Millennials into the workplace, too often we try to fit them into a box, a very old, crumbling box. The Millennial generation looks around and sees that the structure of our civilization is dying. They can feel the chaos and crisis in the work arena just as easily as we can. And yet, we try to teach them the old ways, which are no longer functioning. Rather then sit at a table with them peer-


—A White Paper—


to-peer, and together create a new business reality, we try to teach them old methods and approaches that will, regardless of how often we try to fix them, soon be dust on the wind. If Millennials are to be our bridge to the future, we must understand how they learn, how they perceive the world, and add stability and wisdom to what they know and can invent. The first thing you need to know, if you wish to supervise and/or work with a Millennial, is not how that Millennial functions, but rather how you function. What kind of leader are you? Are you inclusive, do you listen? Do you actually act on the answers you receive? Are you caught in the past and the way “things have always been done?” The answers to these questions will determine whether you are a leader Millennials will follow. Success with integrating and working well with the Millennials means moving beyond the old, standard questions we ask ourselves. We need to ask more than the obvious: “How do we get the Millennials to successfully work and thrive in the business environment?” We need to also ask, “Does our work environment enhance creativity, imagination, shared, and independent work, focused concentration, and innovation?” When we successfully create this kind of environment then all participants, not just Millennials, will work to enhance our businesses’ bottom lines. As stated several times in this paper, the old ways of doing business are not working. The answer to “What do I do next to improve my business?” lies in a partnership between the Millennial generation and those who are not Gen-Yers. That is the good and bad news. Those of us with twenty, thirty, or more years of experience as business leaders know that what once worked no longer does. The wise among us admit that we are often at a loss as to what might work instead. Perhaps, if we are honest with ourselves, we might admit that we are as lost, though in a different way than the Millennials. So, let’s be lost together. Let’s admit what we do not know—and more—let’s believe that we can create something that has never been seen in business before. We can create new businesses, new ways of doing business, new ways to utilize talent, skills, and drive. I don’t mind being lost, which is a good thing, because I’m already “directionally” challenged. When I’m journeying with a friend, given my impediment, we might never find the road we were supposed to be on; instead we create an adventure discovering a new pathway. This metaphor is as close to the truth about working with the Millennial generation as any metaphor can get. We must be willing to be lost. We must be willing to be comfortably uncomfortable. We must breakdown


—A White Paper—


the hierarchy of the old. What would force us to do something as outrageous as that? Survival! As business people, we have a choice. We can wait until the pain of economics or cultural change becomes so unbearable, that we lose our best talent, and possibly our businesses, or we can see the writing on the wall and consciously choose to be uncomfortable during our exploration of the unknown, as we build new business foundations. Our wisdom, experience, imagination, and boundless energy, combined with the Millennial’s unique perspectives, can form the creative synergy of “something more.” Together we can end up somewhere neither of us believed possible, and in doing so we will change our businesses, and indeed the world. As proof of this we can look no further than the phenomenon of Google. We can reasonably extrapolate that the twenty-three-year old Larry Page and Sergey Brin were seeking experience and wisdom when they joined forces with Eric Schmidt. I’ll bet it was really uncomfortable for them as they found their footing. Schmidt’s dream was not to have the information of the entire Internet available to the entire planet. That was the dream of Larry and Sergey. I am willing to go out on the limb and say that Larry and Sergey did not set out to create a multi-billion-dollar company, but they did. Together, the three of them did what was considered impossible, the youngsters and the “old” warhorse joined forces—and it worked. Google is not a fluke. We should all learn from it. The pairing of Millennial dreamers, those who pursue their dreams, and Boomer dream-weavers, those who help the dreamer manifest their dream, is what creates the impossible. Google changes the world and so must we. The Millennials are our impetus for change, in fact they will insist upon it. As I have repeatedly said thougt out this paper, they are the bridge to the future and our hope. In my mind, they have been misnamed; “Gen Y,” “Millennials,” “Generation Me”—all of these diminish their true impact. They are not just the game changers; they are the world changers. They are Gen-Hope. Businesses need the improbable and indeed the impossible. Business was once the most creative arena in America. It needs to be that again. We need to let go of what was and explore what may be—indeed, what can be. Only through the combined talents of all: Gen-Hope, Gen X, and Boomers can we create something that has never been.


—A White Paper—


Resources

Neil Howe, William Strauss, Millennials Go To College (American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Offices (AACRAO) and Life Course Associates, 2003), Executive Summary prepared by Steve Eubanks, (originally for distribution at Azusa Pacific University; revised for general release 8/06) Howe, Neil, and Reena Nadler. "Millennials in the Workplace: Human Resource Strategies for a New Generation." blog business world (blog), February 2011. http://blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com/2011/02/millennials-in-workplace-by-neil-howe.html (accessed May 25, 2012). Haxton, Christina. "Effective leadership begins with professional intimacy." Smart Blogs On Leadership (blog), November 01, 2011. Haxton, Christina. Sustainable Leadership,Inc, "Why Can't Gen Y Grow Up." Last modified 2011. Accessed May 29, 2012. http://sustainable-leaders.com/why-cant-gen-y-just-grow-up/ . Deal, Jennifer. "Five Millennial Myths." strategy-business (blog), February 28, 2012. http://www.strategy-business.com/article/12102?gko=0334d (accessed May 20, 2012). Degraffenreid, Scott. "Myths and Realities About Millennials." About-The-Web (blog), October , 2011. http://www.about-the-web.com/shtml/millennials.shtml (accessed May 27, 2012). Vandergriff, Donald E CTR (US), personal email, 22 May 2012

Noveck, Jocelyn, and Thompson, Trevor 2007b, August 27. What makes you happy? Young people say family ties, faith, belonging. Associated Press. Reported in Kalamazoo Gazette.

Studying the Millennials

Twenge, Jean. Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled—And More Miserable Than Ever Before. New York: Free Press, 2006. http://www.amazon.com/Generation-Americans-Confident-Assertive-Entitled/dp/0743276981 (accessed May 28, 2012).


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Twenge, Jean, and W. Keith Campbell. The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement. New York: Free Press, 2009. http://www.amazon.com/The-Narcissism-Epidemic-Living-Entitlement/dp/1416575995/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338233048&sr=1-1 (accessed May 28, 2012). Howe, Neil, and Reena Nadler. Millennials in the Workplace: Human Resource Strategies for a New Generation . Great Falls, VA: Lifecourse Associates, 2010. Bauerlein, Mark. The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes our Future . New York: The Penguin Group, 2008. http://www.amazon.com/The-Dumbest-Generation-Stupefies-Jeopardizes/dp/1585426393.

Jackson, Maggie. Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age . Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 2008. http://www.amazon.com/Distracted-Erosion-Attention-Coming-Dark/dp/1591027489/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338234451&sr=8-1.