Here Come The Millennials!

I saw Rebecca Ryan speak yesterday at a luncheon for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. I first worked with Rebecca via a MediaSauce job and have stayed in touch since then. She is a wonderful person and it was great to re-connect with her at the luncheon. Rebecca owns a company called Next Generation Consulting in Madison Wisconsin. I sat and watched Rebecca tell the leaders of the Indianapolis business community that in order to attrack the best and brightest we needed to value the arts, green space, mass transit, work-life balance etc. (I sent her a text later that I saw a distinct ruffling of feathers among some audience members. She was happy to hear that.)

This is the subtle but meaningful contribution the current crop of Millennials (also known as Generation Y) are bringing to the community and workplace. It may be the ticket to our economic recovery. Rebecca posted a graphic showing the market capitalization of GM, Ford, Lockheed Martin and a couple other big companies. Then she showed a graphic of Google which equaled all the others added together.

This up and coming generation is perfectly positioned to create more Googles. They are tech saavy, the first generation raised with the Web, creative and willing to take risks. And they can work hard, I’ve seen that time and time again. They just work differently than previous generations.

Millennials value the overall good more than immediate monetary gain. They want to have a positive impact on this world while getting a decent paycheck. I don’t think that is a bad thing at all.

Some look down on this new generation as being an ADD mash up of all previous generations with no soul of its own. I have to respectfully disagree. Shouldn’t every generation try to take the best of all that came before and create their own stew from those experiences? Isn’t that the point of civilization?

I employ a number of Millennials at Small Box and also teach three classes at Franklin College. Although I get bummed out sometimes at gaps in their depth of understanding and knowledge overall I am encouraged and excited to see them come into their own. I think we will be pleasantly surprised. They are much more competent than I think the
older generations are aware. We are in good hands.