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Don Tapscott Wants You To Hire Me

OK, well, maybe not ME, exactly, but definitely US Gen Y'ers! For my new book, I've been doing a ridiculous amount of research about generational studies, social media, new technologies, culture shifts, etc. It's an fascinating field, mostly because it's in the beginning of its adoption phases. Given, phenomena do seem to "tip" at a much more rapid pace these days (if you need more info on that, watch this from 2:34-2:54), but by my estimation we've not yet begun to really see widespread mainstream implications from the social shifts that are occurring. As you may well imagine, there is a veritable cornucopia of information on these topics all over the internet. Somebody that's been growing in popularity on my "favorite people I've never met" list is Don Tapscott. He's an author and consultant that specializes in the areas of Gen Y (he calls us the "Net Generation," for good reason) and societal shifts. I wanted to introduce you to this gentleman, if you're not already familiar, because he seems to have a really solid grasp on emerging culture. Today I came across a particularly great article and video today by Don called "Harnessing the Net Generation," which explains in a very articulate way why the war for talent is actually just beginning (not ending) and why us Gen Y'ers could actually be some of the most powerful employees your company could add during a time of uncertainty. Click HERE to see the vid and article. Thanks for maintaining such a positive outlook, Don! I'm with you -- I think we're going to see some absolutely fantastic shifts towards positive culture change over the next decade. //

The Millennial Melee

An increasing topic of interest to me (and, apparently, the rest of the world) is the melee that seems to surround Generation Y. I'm sure you know many of these folks, as they are born between 1980-2000; they go by a number of names, including Generation Y, Echo Boom, the Net Generation, Generation Me, Sunshine Generation, and Millennials. In their recent book Connecting to the Net.Generation, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa found a few interesting facts about Gen Y by taking a survey of 7,705 US college students (info taken from Wikipedia):
  • 97% own a computer
  • 94% own a cell phone
  • 76% use Instant Messaging (and 15% of us IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week)
  • 34% use websites as their primary source of news
  • 28% author a blog and 44% read blogs
  • 49% download music using peer-to-peer file sharing
  • 75% of college students have a Facebook account
  • 60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod
It's easy to find negative spew about Gen Y all over the internet. But today I came across this article from the Harvard Business School and wanted to share it -- someone is finally paying attention to the positive qualities of Gen Y:
How Will Millennials Manage? by Jim Heskett
I was struck by the eloquence of Anonymous Commenter #4, who is describing some of the core values of a Millennial:
I am ambitious but not overly committed. I prefer to work as a consultant because I am not chained to one company. I am a problem solver by nature, and I want to get immediately to the problem solving. I'm not interested in meaningless titles, mine or anyone else's, and I'm not willing to enslave myself to attain a position with a great title and no depth of purpose. I don't want the appearance of success. I want the integral satisfaction of succeeding. I want to make a lot of money, but only if I have time to spend it, and I'm more interested in health care and vacation than bonuses that I'd have to work too much to get and work too much to enjoy. My family and my pursuit of knowledge for knowledge's sake are more important to me than any particular job, with any particular company. I have confidence in myself, my marketability, and my ability to put my nose to the grindstone when it is necessary. I'm interested in being as efficient and productive as possible, but not every second of every day, and not under someone else's thumb.
If you're a Millennial (born between or around 1980-2000) let me hear it; does this description sound like you? //