She claims, however, to have been humbled by criticism from the Recruitosphere and has been moved, thereby, to confess a few sins while remaining as true as ever to la revolucion.
And what were those sins? As a cheerleader for Gen Y the Princess deliberately hid its limitations. And what are they?
1. Gen-Y will not change the world immediately. It will take a few days. And, yes, it's sure to make some errors on the way.
[Trust me, honey, in ten years, most of your comrades will have deserted the cause. Some will be chuckling over the dopey things they said when they were young while others will be criticizing their old beliefs in no uncertain terms.
You, of course, will remain true, enumerating Gen Y's unique accomplishments and fighting the old battles till your children chuckle about it at your funeral in 2107. "Oh, Mom, she was such a fanatic. But there were good things about it, too."]
2. Gen Y is idealistic and naïve. But unrealistic optimism is a key incentive for progress.
[It built the Soviet Union, didn't it? And brought democracy to Iraq].
3. The current (Boomer) regime is twisted. Princess Becky and her comrades will not only break every rule but will change the very meaning of what it means to win.
[Some concession. Favourite band: Rage Against The Machine]
4. Impatience is one of Gen Y's virtues but patience does, at times, have value, as well. After all, Gen Y doesn't want to burn out before the revolution.
(That's true. Everyone needs a spa day and, after all, that's what Gen Y is fighting for, isn't it, a more humane approach to labour?).
5. "Young workers shouldn’t have to pay dues to a workforce that is often dirty, unethical and shameful." The Princess, admits, however, that Gen Y has live in the real world, after all and so, will have to tolerate a certain amount of drudgery.
6. Apparently, most "movements" today lack visionary leaders. So Gen Y needs to cultivate leaders. Mind you, La Princessa does concede that it is true that not everyone is suited to be a leader.
7. Friends, this one is so full of double-talk it's hard to understand. According to the princess.
"Gen Y plays the field of careers. It’s not good. But it’s not bad."
"Loyalty is important..[but]... We’re twenty-somethings; loyalty means something different to us. It’s not about time, but the value that the company and the Gen-Y employee offer each other."
Advice For Gen Y
The Princess ends her spell of humility (where was it, did I miss it?) with a plea for some advice.
"How can Generation Y show respect and learn from previous generations so that we may fully engage in meaningful interactions to our mutual benefit? How can we work together to fulfill our dreams? Come together."
Princess, Princess! The first thing you can do is ditch the cliches and that stilted way of talking. "Come together?". "Meaningful interactions?". This is a blog! It's supposed to be down to earth. But I know I'm asking for too much when I say "No management-speak!" and "No cutesy greeting card stuff, either!". It seems to be in your bones.
But, here's the real thing you have to understand. You might have read in the paper that you are something special because you were born after 1977. But you're not. You're just an ordinary person. And you're not really on the other side of any kind of divide.
You talk like you just dropped down from heaven and you're going to clear up all the problems your parents left behind. But here's where we differ: Gen Y doesn't seem that radically different, at all. You use Twitter and you want more rights at work. Is that something to crow about? Endlessly?
Princess, I believe in progress. And I think the world keeps getting better. You're part of that process, that's all. You're not going to launch a revolution (thankfully) and you're not the greatest thing since sliced bread.
You, personally, seem to have a social conscience so you might end up as the director of a charity or a happy morning radio host. But, if you believe that other people are going to think that this makes you hot stuff and are, therefore, going to tolerate your endless put-downs of everyone else, you've got another thing coming.
The hilarious thing about Gen Y is that every other generation that came before has done exactly the same thing. Everyone has changed the world incrementally, by making our their career and lifestyle choices. But the fundamentals of work have not changed in millenia. All we're doing now is making small changes to total hours, compensation, perqs and vacation time.
Little things like working from home are lovely and fun, but they're not going to be reality for the vast majority of the workforce. Litigators still have to show up in court. Auditors still have to show up at client offices. Surgeons still have to show up at the OR. IT, telecom and electrical guys still have to connect physical cables, power and cooling systems so that all the knowledge economy wonders can function. Contractors of all kinds have to show up at the job site, or houses and buildings don't get built, or don't function correctly.
Human industry is structured around concentration of effort and resources. This is also why cities work so well. If you want to change the world, you have to change the efficiencies of massing effort/knowledge/resources. Otherwise it's all just the same-old HR bafflegab.
You want to change the world, find a way of allowing people to get the benefits of massing without the requirements of physical presence. The net can do this to a limited extent, but it doesn't help get your groceries from the farm to your table. Somebody has to move the physical product. Same with your water supply, electricity, clothes, transportation, etc.
You might get more time off, more money, more perqs, and a different work location. Congratulations. I'm sure the Boomers had more time, money and perqs than the Greatest Generation. But it's all evolutionary, not revolutionary.
Posted by: Chris Taylor | August 23, 2007 at 11:26 AM