When it comes to polarization, perhaps the tide is finally turning.  It’s likely no coincidence, for example, that many of the tributes to John McCain gravitated towards stories of reaching across the aisle or showing civility to political opponents.  It was a similar theme echoed by Joe Biden speaking earlier this summer in North Carolina when he stressed to the audience that even his most conservative adversaries, including Jesse Helms, deserved both respect and an open mind.

It is a common mistake to ignore history.  We all do it, only realizing it in later years when what is paraded as the latest thinking starts to look eerily familiar.  Those of us who have been doing media for far longer than we care to recall learned the basics of how advertising works and how smart creative and media thinking can make it work better from whoever was kind enough to sit us down to explain such things (Norman Berry and Simon Broadbent in my case).

For years, Millennials have captured the attention of marketers and media alike.  From being labeled as "entitled" members of the workforce to being scrutinized for their spending habits, they couldn't seem to catch a break.  However, Millennials can finally breathe a sigh of relief as a new generation has stepped into the spotlight.  Generation Z -- anyone born between 1997-2010 -- has a population of 61 million strong in the U.S. and by 2020 will represent 40% of all consumers.  With an estimated spending power of up to $129 billion, Gen Z has been the focus of consumer reports for some time now, with marketers anxious to learn how Gen Z shops, what they care about and how to reach them.  What Gen Z wants in the workplace, though, is a relatively new focus.  A report from RippleMatch, an automated recruiting assistant for early career hiring, sheds some light on this specific facet of the Gen Z identity.  Through surveying tens of thousands of college students, RippleMatch found out what this generation actually wants at work.  (The full report is available for download at the end of this article.)