Does Gen Y Really Want to Change the World?

Published by Ryan Paugh on May 1st, 2008 in Activism, Generation Y | 21 Comments

I'm terrible at being environmentally conscious. I use paper plates because sometimes I'm too lazy to wash dishes. I drive my car (a lot). And you could build some kind of cool castle structure with all of the non-reusable coffee cups I go through. All and all, I'm a bad environmentalist for a millennial.

But before you lock me up and throw away the key, I want you to know that I'm trying. I'd like to be more socially conscious than I am. And I'm hoping that by acknowledging the fact that I'm not, it'll mean positive steps moving forward.

Generation Y and activism have been braided together for some time. And while it makes me proud to say that this generation has what it takes to make improvements in the world. I wonder if we're kind of jumping the gun.

I mean, what have we done so far? I'm sure there are plenty of others out there just like me who don't do enough. And maybe, unlike me, they're still in denial.

Here are three reasons we may not be all we could be (yet):

We're too conservative

There's no doubt that we're less radical than the Boomers of the 60's and 70's. We don't even protest. And sure, we can band together on the web to support a cause, but what tangible goal do we accomplish?

Gen Y is an internet culture. We go to freerice.com and think we're really making a difference.

Real change requires not only ambition, but a little bit of impetuousness. And while nobody will argue that Gen Y isn't ambitious, I don't see that many of us willing to put their ass on the line for a cause they believe in.

If we want to make a difference in the world we're going to have to use the same attitude we have about getting what we want in our careers. But do we care enough about something other than ourselves to make it happen?

We're way too trendy

We don't just hop through jobs. We hop through everything. So when it comes to supporting a cause it's here today, gone tomorrow.

I worry about this because making a significant change in our society takes the one thing we don't have right now – patience. If we want to make a difference we have to be steadfast. Don't treat it like your job. If you're bored, you can't just get another world-changing cause. That's not how this works. You'll never make progress like that. World-changing takes lots of time.

College students behave like this all the time. And who can blame them? With all of the choices among activist groups to join on campus, it's like a free-for-all to get involved. But when a bunch of young people jet around from activity to activity, what are they really accomplishing?

It's been really easy for us

While the environment is one of the top concerns of my generation, there is no real authority figure within our ranks on the topic.

The closest thing we have is Al Gore, who stops by the MTV Music Video Awards to plug The Inconvenient Truth. And while it's nice to have a Boomer, ex-Vice President who's trying to reach the next generation of leaders, it's not earning any points for Gen-Y leadership.

The real movement leaders for most of today's environmental and social initiatives are Generation X and the Baby Boomers. But they're marketing to Generation Y. So while many of us are getting involved, nobody has stepped up and led. And that makes me wonder when somebody finally will.

I'm very optimistic about my generation. But I'm also wary that we'll ever show some results. I can't even commit to recycling.

Statistics show that Gen Y cares about a lot of things. But until we actually commit to doing something and stick with it, we're doing nothing.

Henry Ford Didn't Need to Manage, But You Do

Published by Ryan Healy on May 1st, 2008 in Productivity, Work | 6 Comments

Seth Godin claims that Henry Ford's greatest achievement was not the assembly line, but rather that he understood (and exploited) the power of productivity. Godin argues that Ford understood that paying workers more than the average salary would make them work twice as hard, and pump out twice as many Model T's, each one making him wealthier and more powerful.

The strategy worked because people were dying to make more money in Ford's day, so any assembly line worker could be easily replaced. And when you're easily replaced, you work much harder.

But they didn't work harder because they wanted to, or because they had an inner drive to succeed. Instead, they worked harder because they were terrified of losing their jobs. Ford created the ultimate workplace culture of obedience and fear.

Which begs the question, "What happens when we start using our heads, not our hands, when our collars change from blue to white?"

The answer is that fear no longer works and hands-on-management is no longer optional. When we use our minds rather than hands, there are no widgets to produce; there are no cars to build, but there still must be results.

Fear worked in Henry Ford's day. People knew they would be fired if they didn't produce, so they worked harder. But fear does not work anymore because instead of working harder and pumping out more products, the fear of being let go for doing the wrong thing will cause people to sit back and do nothing.

Managers correctly expect employees to have initiative and get things done. But it's a two-way street. Employees should expect managers to take initiative to properly train and manage them. When I read articles bashing Generation Y for lacking in confidence and behaving like idiots, I can't help but question the manager's effectiveness at his job.

There will always be way too much "non managerial" work to do and important milestones to hit. But the good managers, the managers who don't complain about their employees, are the ones who manage first, and work second. These managers know that if people know what's expected of them, they won't be scared to take action. Fear used to drive results, but in today's workplace it's nothing but a productivity killer.