Strange Millennials
In-tune organizations
Complexity, the new normal
On November 2017, the location of secret US army bases and spy outposts was revealed and made public by a fitness tracking app. Yes, a fitness app!. Strava: The Social Network for Athletes was doing what it was supposed to do, GPS mapping out data points through smartphones to mark popular running and cycling routes, and sharing them among their consenting users which activated the app while working out.
The issue with the apparently harmless service was that some of its users were military personnel on active service which, through their running routes, revealed to the world the locations of U.S. military bases in Afghanistan, Djibouti and Syria. Beyond the jocosity and distressing aspect of the episode, we can make one general deduction from this event:
In-use technologies are surpassing the rationality we believe — or expect — should come from contemporary large organizations and institutions. If not, how can we understand that the U.S. military did not have any internal alert about the possibility of social apps mapping out zones when GPS is such a commonly-used technology?
But, hold your horses, it’s not about pointing fingers, human error is unavoidable. A more useful approach would be understanding the event from a broader sense. In fact, such a miscalculation could be better comprehended if we agree that a large portion of humanity is currently attending to a very complex world which is not so easy to grasp. Keeping up with the advances and the consequences of new technologies is not an easy task. Imagine how difficult this turns to be for organizations with a large amount of staff members that deal with many intricate processes and have a top-down schema.
Really, technology develops faster than the logic of a large portion of the institutional arrangements humanity has created so far. The advances in A.I., automation and machine learning; the developments in biotechnology and genetic engineering; or the expansion in reach of the internet and the pace and amount of shared information plus its psychological and social consequences; are just some examples of phenomena which are exerting a steaming pressure towards current institutional arrangements i.e. traditional national-states — their bureaucracies and “sovereign” borders — and corporations — their business models and the way they understand values, work, and their employees — .
Demogorgons and Elevens
Then, who will make sense of it all? Or a more important question, who will make all this work? Many optimists would answer — the millennials!. Generation Y or Millennials, born between 1983 and 2000s, is a demographic generational grouping depicted in countless and conflicting studies as the Demogorgon of our world, while in others as the Eleven of humanity (sometimes both at the same time).
For those not familiarized with the Netflix series “Stranger Things”, Demogorgon is a predatory monster species that originates in an alternate dimension called “the Upside Down” and crawls to our reality to basically destroy our lives; while its counterpart, Eleven, the hero, is a girl with psychokinetic abilities, who uses her powers to episodically save and protect her fellow friends.
Whether positive or negative descriptions of the millennials’ attitudes, values and views on life and the world, one thing is certain, they are presented as different and strange to the ways the previous generations are accustomed to.
In a nutshell, millennials are described as narcissistic, fame-obsessed, shallow, delusional in their expectations of life and workplace, entitled, anxious, new experiences/dopamine addicts, lazy, and basically not getting things done. On the other hand, the same generation members are depicted as earnest and optimistic, challengers of convention and tech-savvy, entrepreneurial and pro-business, thinkers and open to diversity, among others.
It is worth asking why is it important understanding Generation Y. In order to reduce errors such as the example of the US military/Strava, it seems necessary that large institutions and organizations attract, incorporate and maintain talents that are in tune with the complexity and rapid changes of the contemporary world. Are all the millennials these talents?
Dissecting Millennials
Millennials are not a homogenous mass of people with identical values and worldview; yes, general trends can and are being spotted, but sometimes it is more useful to take a look to some subgroups inside the large generational category. For it, we propose an approach that pays attention to what they do instead of focusing too much on what they believe in.
In 2002, the researcher Richard Florida proposed the rise of a Creative class as a segment of the population which occupation is to “create meaningful new forms” engaging “in complex problem solving that involves a great deal of independent judgment and requires high levels of education or human capital”. Revisiting the idea in 2012 and based on statistical data of the type of job positions in prosperous economic geographical centers, Florida identifies the growing trend of a class which he subdivides into 2 groupings:
Super-Creative Core. Scientists, engineers, university professors, poets, novelists, artists, entertainers, actors, designers, and architects, as well as the thought leadership of modern society: nonfiction writers, editors, cultural figures, think-tank researchers, analysts, and other opinion makers.
Creative professionals. who work in a wide range of knowledge-intensive industries, such as high-tech, financial services, the legal and health care professions, and business management. (…) People who do this kind of work may sometimes come up with methods or products that turn out to be widely useful, but it’s not part of their basic job description. What they are required to do regularly is to think on their own, apply or combine standard approaches in unique ways to fit different situations, exercise a great deal of judgment, and perhaps even try something radically new from time to time.
In a similar manner, Hanzi Freinacht¹ (2017), proposes an interesting subdivision of a creative class composed of Hipsters, Hippies and Hackers; the Triple H.
Hackers. Understood not just as the people who illegally gain access to computer systems, but instead the ones who produce digital solutions and software that reduce the complexity of society and make it manageable. In this sense, not all IT-workers can be considered to be hackers. Real hackers invent solutions that bypass many of the old ways of distributing services and information by digitalizing and gamifying education; finding novel applications of technologies to solve social problems; democratizing medical equipment by creating mobile applications that measure from brain waves and heart rates to the environmental impact of our purchases.
Hipsters. The second grouping recognized not as a fashion statement, but those who produce the symbols that help us to orientate ourselves in, make sense of, and find meaning in the global, digital age. Freinacht mentions artists, designers, thinkers, social entrepreneurs, writers and bloggers — which combine their great amount of cultural capital (…) combined with their personal networks, i.e. social capital; in order to introduce into the society new ideas or ways to interpret reality. From posthumanism to ecological topics, from tolerance and multiculturalism to networks and organizational development.
Hippies. Finally, the hippies, referring not to the mid-60’s “peace and love” movement; but to all those characters that you may find advancing lifestyles and practices that make life in the postindustrial society happier and healthier, e.g. meditation, contemplation, bodily practices, psychedelics, diets and physical training, profound forms of intimate communication and sexuality. Identifying this type is quite easy because most of them demonstrate relative withdrawals from modern life, however, their activism always reinserts itself into the mainstream (…) not least via social media.
From the last subdivision, we note a distinction between hackers on one side and hipsters and hippies in the other.
Hackers solve specific problems that materialize into “tangible” solutions i.e. apps, software, gadgets and appliances that make the life of people and organizations more easy, agile, manageable, data-driven and in some cases transparent. The solutions are an outcome of their knowledge in IT and technologies plus an insightful understanding and/or sensibility to our own age problems. Differently, the symbols, ideas, lifestyles, and practices of hipsters and hippies are bound to subjectivity, meaning they depend more on the cultural and social capital of their creators. The products of hipsters and hippies rely much more on the accumulation of “followers”, social prestige and attention.
In tune organizations
On PWC 2017 study “Engaging and empowering Millennials”, it is noted that Millennials tend to look for recognition rather than, or in addition to, money; rewards that will benefit them in life or in career-enhancing ways. Probably that is why we see an explosion of the so-called influencers. At the internet network society, social influence is crucial, and the predisposition of millennials to be an influencer or find guidance and mentors (other influencers) is somewhat prevalent.
The influencers phenomena showcase a revival of craftsmanship (making something with your own “hands”). Meaning that each hipster or hippie — being that a blogger, mindfulness coach, foodie Instagrammer, etc. — need to constantly create, perform and practice its particular skill in order to show himself or herself as an expert in its area, and thereafter, become a point of reference and attention. We are talking about creative people.
The value of the creative people for large organizations comes into being in the interaction of the craftsperson (influencer) and its immediate public, followers and colleagues. Supporting their activities from the inside makes the organization more alive and in tune with the times.
According to Florida, creativity is associated with the rise of new work environments, lifestyles, associations, and neighborhoods, which in turn are conducive to creative work. Such a broadly creative environment is critical for generating technological creativity and the commercial innovations and wealth that flows from it.
Attracting and retaining creative professionals, craftspersons or triple Hs does not only allow organizations to better understand and tackle the changes and complexity of contemporary rapid changes, but it also generates attention towards the organization and creates a stronger sense of community in its interior, attracting more people alike. This type of organization’s environment can be achieved by empowering the inside leaders/influencers; improving the communication flow; making the organization’s values connect with the ones of the individuals; and, increasing transparency and horizontal decision-making processes.
¹ Hanzi Freinacht is the pen name of Daniel Görtz and Emil Ejner Friis for the book: The Listening Society (2017)
