Gen X, Y, Z: The End of the Alphabet as a Career Planning Tool

Now that we have reached the end of the alphabet in the Generation X Y Z continuumamp160with the Z kids born 1996 to the present I want to make a proposal amp160There may be some useful elegance in ending our belief that birth year is a proxy for individual attributes amp160I propose this both to HR leaders on the neverending hunt for finding and retaining the best talentamp160and to individual candidates who sometimes buy into the concept that they are part of a group based on when they were bornThe most successful careers are based more on how you stand out and apart from your peer group in a positive way rather than taking comfort and guidance from a broad set of professional and personal attributes ascribed to your groupquotBe yourself everyone else is already takenquot amp160Oscar WildeI didn39t know I was a quotBaby Boomerquot until around 1990amp160 quotBaby boomquot is a term used to describe a temporary surge in birth rates like in the postWorld War II 1940s for example amp160By most accounts the term quotBaby Boomerquot first appeared in The Bennington Banner in December of 1977amp160 This reference marked an important change in the way we discuss the professional social politicalamp160and economic inclinations of people who are known to have one commonality amp160birth yearWhile I believe that I fit the classic definition of a Baby Boomer competitive resourceful goal centric selfassured etc these were not predefined for me amp160Iamp160did not consult an infographic to figure out how I should view myself and my career opportunities when I entered the workforce in 1984amp160 I just kinda quotran my own racequotamp160I also believe that a fair portion of my peer Baby Boomers doamp160not fit the defining traits amp160I guess that would make them quotAlt Baby Boomersquot in today39s language amp160As a quottailendquot boomer born 1963 I lived and worked through the debuts of the PC the Internet the tablet the smartphone and the cloud amp160all of which had enormous societal and workplace implications amp160Those of us boomers who strived to adapt and to remain unclassifiable on the basis of our birth date were the most successful amp160Think Oprah 1954 Gates 1955 Jobs 1955 Bezos 1964 The quoteveryone gets a trophyquot reward system amp160which was already observed in the early 3990s amp160is a trap the consequences of which are now being felt in our workplaces amp160A rewards system that allows individuals to take credit for something that is not measurable knowable or clearly defined airbrushes synthetic success onto those who have done nothing to earn itWhile attributes like quotflexiblequot quotteam playerquot and quotsocially consciousquot make for interesting reading and easytodigest fodder for company town hall meetings corporate policy rewrites and corporate culture wars offices vs cubes vs quothot deskingquot vs my office is everywhere and anywhere I want it to be I39m not so sure that this X Y Z alphabet soup creates a recipe for individual success amp160In the case of Generation Zamp160it may actually prevent itamp160 Further in second and third world populations across emerging and underdeveloped markets it may be entirely irrelevantLet39s take as an example the term quotglobally mindedquot often a Generation Z descriptor amp160It sounds greatamp160 But if your primary demonstration of global mindedness is to use your smartphone to connect with Facebook quotfriendsquot thousands of miles away or book vacations in places where homosexuality is illegal where women are treated like second class citizens or where the majority of the population live in povertyamp160perhaps you should rethink your global mindednessHow about challenging why new smartphones cost 1000 when the people who physically make them earn pennies an hour and are denied basic liberties rather than camping out for days to purchase one amp160The same reasoning would apply to being quottech savvyquotamp160 Should that include seriously or even casually pondering the question of why the Google search engine is free for unlimited use amp160Is it really free amp160Would a prerequisite for being quottech savvyquot require one to know an exact and indepth answer to that question amp160I think yesMass marketing relies heavily on studying and analyzing how to reach demographic groups using the Generation X Yamp160and Z approach but isn39t it ironic that as generations of consumers became increasingly more interested in labels on clothes fashion coffee tech devices and the like the manufacturers and marketers of these items became equally if not more interested in putting labels on their consumers amp160X Y or Zamp160 Get the correlationquotYour time Is limited don39t waste it living someone else39s lifequot amp160Steve JobsThis X Y and Z quotzodiac sciencequot inspired a generation of 20something Gen Xers to concern themselves with quotworklife balancequot issues as a career priority amp160The justification for this was fueled by the narrative quotMy Baby Boomer parents worked all kinds of hours and got nothing for itquot amp160While this is surely a debatable claim it may have poisoned their well of achievement during some of their most critical career development yearsamp160 It took me at least 1012 years to begin to understand the true nature and purpose of work and I39m still trying to sort out the meaning of life amp160I don39t want to underplay the effects of their parental influence lost pensions stock market crashes and soaring divorce rates for example but these young people in their midtolate 20s were challenged to sort out the costbenefit analysis of balancing work with life does and it has not shown great macro outcomes 10 to 15 years henceCurrent day social pressures identity politics viral media fake news and information overload create an environment where being a true individual is scary and lonely amp160We39ve created a need to identify and value each other by age race gender identity left right religious pro this anti that and on and on amp160For the sake of your professional development resist the traps to define judge place value and alienate each other as part of your career planI had a professor in college with whom I completely disagreed on every social economic religiousamp160and political issue of the time amp160I listened to him respected his view and never pushed him away or labeled him amp160I39m thankful because this person who I so vehemently disagreed with taught me one of the most important skills that contributed to my success over a 34year career he taught me how to write amp160I was awful at it and he told me so amp160But he committed himself to teaching me amp160He embraced my passion fueled my pursuit of knowledge and taught me how to express it in writing even though he disagreed with itSo how do you avoid the trapsLearn the business model of the tech devices you use the algorithms behind the delivered content you enjoy the corporate influence on the social causes you supportamp160and the true economic and geopolitical impacts of globalizationamp160Read and write beyond the limited number of characters that the GIFTs economy platforms Google Instagram Facebook Twitter and Snapchat offerDon39t sacrifice your potential goals beliefsamp160and priorities by accepting the constant disruptions and interruptions that beep into the depths of your concentration trying to make sure you remain at the shallow end of the quotgroup thinkquot poolamp160In the 1960s The Who a British rock band half of you reading this won39t know sang quotTalkin39 39bout My Generationquot while the US Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War were taking placeamp160 Their US audience included a group of teens and young adults who more than a decade later would be called Baby Boomersamp160 The lyrics were raw emotional unapologetic rebellious urgent and full of passion and strength amp160Pete Townsend expressed the individual power of a young person39s voice scratching and carving hisher own place in the world and not trying to fit into a manufactured group moldamp160 Pete wrote amp160quotHope I die before I get old amp8230 Hope I die before I get family oriented amp8230quot amp160His rallying cry for individualism is a rallying call worth hearing todayamp160Click the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Gen X, Y, Z: The End of the Alphabet as a Career Planning Tool

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Tim Cecere

Jon Miller | Cofounder Marketo, Engagio | The Gumball Machine is Broken - Rethinking B2B Marketing - By Mike Linton

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