Love Generation

Baby Boomers have been noted for their love and involvement with Generation Y. Termed ‘Helicopter Parents’ (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article3734696.ece) Baby Boomer parents have developed a ‘love blanket’ for their children. Generation Y have grown up on praise. Every (Gen Y) child is a winner according to their parent (watch the reaction if anything is suggested to the contrary), and is taught they are able to make a difference in their own right. Gen Y grew up on compliments and validations as if it were oxygen. Any surprises, then, that they come across as a little over-confident? Enter Gen Y into the world of work… they see managers or Managing Directors about the age of their parents and expect the same acknowledgements will come. But, alas, there is money involved now. With nobody to validate their achievements – as generally they will be living away from home – and nobody to nurse their wounds if they are criticized, or to go back to their ‘teachers’ (managers/ boss) to challenge feed-back. So… they went ‘Online’. In search of likeminded individuals with whom to share their grief. Generation Y are notoriously bad at being internal processors – they externalize their feelings, and express in digital language! They talk online. No fears about sharing company information, there is no pride involved – just an expression of the injustice to them – and so within a few moments they perceive the grass to be greener somewhere else. Unfettered and disenchanted they move, to realize the same is true in ‘pastures green’ after all. But… the information is still out there – it forms a record in the online world and a reputation begins to develop. An exponential reputation. Information is published, shared, discussed, linked and noted. It becomes… like a ‘truth’. In some senses it is a truth - an ethnographic account of what happened from an individual’s point of view, just… expressed differently to the (Baby Boomer and X) generations before them.

So, what (if anything) can we learn in the middle of all this hype, subjectivity, pride and (essentially) just another point in time? Crucially, no judgment of any other Generation. Allow for individualism. I have been asked, “will Gen Y’s just become like Gen X’s and Baby Boomers eventually?” ‘If some Boomers have resignedly become the organization men and women they once mocked, others have unleashed innovative and entrepreneurial energies that in the long run may provide enough growth and opportunity for them to realize their dreams after all…’ (TIME Magazine, 1986).

So, that depends… on you (as a Baby Boomer managing X and Y’s; X-er in the middle; Y responding to Baby Boomers and X-ers).

Growing up

Nurture. The Baby Boomers were brought up by the ‘Builders’ or ‘Veterans’ (generally those born 1925 – 1945). Many having been through World War I (‘WWI’) as children and all will have experienced in some way World War II (WWII). They were naturally conservative with food and possessions, taught to reuse and conserve what they had. ‘Builders’ were guided by the military discipline instilled through the course of the military action; were affected directly by the economic events of the Wall Street Crash in October 1929 and the years to follow, so named the ‘Great Depression’. (Rightly or wrongly) they communicated these learned values to their children – the ‘Baby Boomers’. Born in ‘two chunks’ (in the UK) between the generally accepted range of 1946 – 1964, the Boomers formed their own identity too. The preceding 20 years had made starting families challenging (not least because of the physical separation of families as they went on duty with their various military ‘outfits’), but now with men returning to handle the economy women were able return to raising a family. Boomers took on these learned values and pursued careers – taught by their Builder parents that a job provided income security – Boomers forged for themselves 20 or 30 year careers with one firm. Generation X witnessed the collapse of this trust as long term ‘expectations’ of job security between employer and (Baby Boomer) employees was shattered in the 1987 stock-market crash. Within 2 days the FTSE 100 had lost 22% of its value and panic struck (even thought the FTSE 100 actually finished two percentage points higher overall that year[1]! Look at this FTSE 100 (1985-2005) chart[2] from Yahoo! Finance and see how the index had been rising for the previous seven months and then ‘corrected’).
This was happening as this X-er Generation was entering the workplace! Loyalty, as you might expect, towards (multi) national firms went down the scale considerably. Gen X-ers were much more independently minded, ensuring their survival they learned ‘transferrable skills’. And it wasn’t just business shaping the minds of Generation X: the birth of the single-parent family became acceptable and this generation thus carries the ‘latch-key’ tag as parents in single-parent families were forced to work to provide for their family. Generation X was cultured to be independent and in work will ‘ring-fence’ their ‘bit’ and look after it. This is also the generation that started to interact with the Internet and online communication – at least as ‘early adopters’.So what about Generation Y? “Self absorbed” “Brash” “Divas[3]” “Ambitious[4]” “Demanding” “Confident” – Yes!


[1] The Motley Fool UK: Market Comment 19/10/2001, ‘Learn the Lessons from Black Monday’ (19 Oct 2001)
[2] http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=%5EFTSE&t=my&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=, ‘FTSE100 basic chart’ (15 May 2008).
[3] http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/career_and_jobs/recruiter_forum/article1813031.ece, “How to Connect with Generation Y” TimesOnline (20 May 2007)
[4] http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/786810/mt-freshminds-work-20-survey-generation, “Work 2.0 Survey - My generation” (29 Feb 2008)

Is Gen Y ‘for real’?

We have been hearing about the Generation Y and Baby Boomer stuff for some time now. My question remains, what are the real differences? I can get inside the head of Generation Y, after all, I am one! What separates a Gen Y from a Gen X or a Baby Boomer though? Is it so clear cut I can put a marker in the sand?
On 19 May 1986 TIME magazine published an article entitled “Growing pains at 40”[1] – the article announced the coming of age of the Baby Boomers, they had reached middle age. In the article Senator Al(bert) Gore (then 38 and Democrat of Tennessee), said “We wanted to change it all, to do it our way”. Sound familiar? Sounds like what Generation Y are shouting out right now. They have the energy and the passion to do so. With little to worry about apart from themselves they have the mobility to move around whenever and wherever they like. The article continues by referring to the Baby Boomer as the ‘enelegant’: "Pig in the python," a moving bulge that distorts and distends everything around it as it rumbles through the stages of life. Locked together in a crowded race, many Boomers have learned to use their elbows. The most outspoken members retain a kind of generational arrogance… Again, sounds familiar. Well, what about loyalty? ‘…Not only that, long absorbed in themselves, the Baby Boomers are a generation that has avoided or postponed commitment to others. Many have little loyalty to their employers and less to political leaders or ideas…[2]’ You can draw your own parallels I’m sure but allow me one just briefly; This is exactly how Generation Y are being described by Gen X and Baby Boomer commentators right now: ‘arrogant’, ‘self absorbed’ and ‘increasingly mobile’.
So are there any differences? Of course there are. And Yes, they are dependent on how they were raised, and Yes they are dependent on the environment in which Generation Y is growing up, and Yes it does have to do with Technology and the WWW.



[1] http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961401,00.html “Growing Pains at 40”, TIME Magazine (19 May 1986)
[2] http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961402,00.html “Growing Pains at 40”, TIME Magazine (19 May 1986)