The Millennial — More than just a Generation, an Ideology
Have you ever noticed that a lot of the media out there on millennials is not actually written or told by millennials? Most of the articles and news love to quote statistics, as they openly debate how to define a generation. It’s like they’ve discovered a new species, and can’t tell if it’s dangerous or not.
While I cannot speak on behalf of all millennials, I can’t help but offer my insights as someone who is defined as a millennial in the workplace. I’m sure most of us are familiar with the “millennials in the workplace” discussion that brings along a whole slew of generalizing terms like: Lazy, incompetent, always-asking-for-help, addicted-to-technology, and indecisive. Honestly, though, if we take a step back and dive a little deeper into what has made this generation so different, it’s pretty simple.
First, the term millennial encompasses a significantly larger age range than that which it is often associated. The U.S. Census Bureau defines millennials as those from the ages of 18–34 (in 2015), a group that is composed of 75.4 million people, surpassing the 74.9 million Baby Boomers defined as ages 51–69. Mixed in there are Generation X, defined as ages 35–50 (in 2015). But still, not everyone agrees with this definition of millennials; some feel it is too broad and should be narrowed into more specific characteristics.
So is it right to paint millennials with such a broad brush, when it is clear that we really aren’t sure exactly what age we are talking about?
So who are we?
We are Unsettlers and Iterators
Due to a massive amount of exposure and information all around us, opportunities seem endless. We usually don’t settle for a the first job we get or buy into the “work your way up” mentality. While there are pros to that approach, our first job is often not the job that we dreamed about as a kid and the work is unfulfilling. Unsettling is actively learning: learning about ourselves and about new things, new professions, and new environments that push forward our passions. When the work we do does not align with an environment that allows us to thrive, we are willing to iterate. And it’s not that we are not loyal to the company that spent time hiring us and fostering young professionals, it’s just that we aren’t willing to give up the purpose we set out to find.
In a Deloitte study on “Millennials in the Workplace,” research shows that rarely does the decision to walk away have anything to do with money. Actually, opportunity and purpose are usually the focus.
And there are the lucky few of us that find that purpose in high school or college and rarely iterate. But for many of us, it’s not that we aren’t up for the challenge, it’s that we would rather bet on the risk of chasing another opportunity aligned closely with our values, or in an environment that allows us to thrive. And for that, we don’t settle, we iterate.
Listen to Patrice Thomas explain how a recognition and understanding of this millennial dynamic is an important leveraging factor in any successful company. TED Talk: Closing the gap — A millennial proposal for a happy multigenerational workplace
And while there are many more Stats to support this trend among millennials, still I believe that the millennial represents something even greater. I believe the “millennial” is no longer just applied to a generation, but to a socially conscious, purpose-and-belief-driven creator, employee, consumer, and citizen. The term itself has been used in a context of change. The millennial represents the catalysts that have changed the workplace, that have changed how we view our lives in context of a globalized world, and have changed even how we live our lives. We are more informed than ever today about others’ lives through social media, about world events that can be found at the click of a button on the internet to the latest developments in tech and fashion. In the past 20 years, the floodgates have opened, and think about how much our lives have changed in that time within the context of the past 150 years. It’s super exponential.
The driving ideology behind this is the “millennial”: The problem solver, The connected consumer — socially conscious about how their lifestyles and purchases impact the planet and others’ lives—The Hustler, Iterator, and Unsettler.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHXG6zb4bQM
And no, this is not everyone, and not every “millennial.” But it is an ideology being adopted more and more by generations following us and even starting to be adopted by generations before us. You see more and more grandparents commenting on Facebook photos, becoming integrated into the connected world. And as everyone becomes a part of this web, the collective efforts of a globally connected and socially conscious world, built on innovative businesses will continue to solve problems at a greater and greater scale.
Read more about the Millennial Ideology in context of building businesses around a purpose driven mission and how this trend continues to grow in my book, Generation Give.
Email: timazz@umich.edu
Instagram: Tim Azzolini
Twitter: @timazzolini
