Let’s just for a moment keep aside the Gen Y and X terminology. Why don’t we see this from a more human aspect? whether its Gen Y or Gen X every generation have their own unique generic characteristics, skill sets and talent depending on the era/age they were born and are living in. Their approaches and thinking to achieve the same thing is and will always be different. While Gen X might complete one task at a time, Gen Y might complete the same task while doing other tasks simultaneously. If we all as individuals thought or approached same way then there would not be any innovation or creativity. I would like mention a quote of Mr. Vineet Nayar, CEO of HCL technologies. He says in his video post:
“God has given birth to so many people in this world and none of them look alike, none of them behave alike, none of them feel alike and every single individual among these billions and billions of people is different,. So the world was not meant to be evaluated on a relative scale, it was meant to be enjoyed in all its glorious beauty, in its individual beautiful way. Every rose is different, every animal is different and every man and woman is different. Therefore, the concept of relative evaluation and making people feel good or bad on relative evaluation is something which organizations have discovered so that they can manage their jobs of running organizations.”
You can watch the full video over here http://www.vineetnayar.com/think-positive/
In case of so-called Gen Y all what one needs to do is to adapt and understand their approach and views to work and collaborate better to gain great results.
I think terming the entire Gen Y as lazy, loss souls etc is not fair. If there are huge numbers of people today who are young and confused, it’s also due to the environment they are in. The numbers of choices and options they have to choose from, whether it’s a choosing a course or planning career. When there is so much opportunity and choices its basic human nature to get distracted and sometimes end up doing mistakes or taking wrong decisions irrespective of from which generation you are. You will find people of varied characteristics in every generation like Good, Bad, Ugly, or Poor, Average, Excellent.
The situations and thought process of Gen Y differs a lot due to the countries, cultures, traditions and trend differences.
There is a lot of innovation and creativity done by Gen X in the field of Science, Technology, Art, Literature, Business, Management. They had laid the foundation and I believe the Gen Y is and still striving to take that innovation, creativity and foundation to the next level. In fact the Gen Y members have went on to make great contributions and innovations to the mankind with the help of advance technology which is being embraced, appreciated by all generations.
The generational categorization is fine as long as it does not go beyond the nature of its purpose. No matter which generation are you in the focus and aim should be to perform and deliver value.
What do you think of this ? I would love to hear your thoughts ?
Very valid points here. I especially love the point that people were meant to be different and the world has to be enjoyed in an individual beautiful way.
At times I have felt that categorizing people into ‘groups’ like gen X, gen Y or by functions etc. just further fuels stereotyping. Groups are useful for getting a “feel” of the issues, but one has to remember that we are only talking about averages. And as always, there are deviations from the average – sometimes quite stark.
Hey Abhishek,
You are right when we get into categorization it sometimes does not serve the purpose and instead it leads into a completely opposite track. We could focus more on the value rather than titles…
Thanks for the comments
Gen – x, y or z – whatever u call them, they are people and the challenge remains to treat them as per their competency and not generalise them into a perceptional categorisation as to whether they are good or bad.
Sushil, Thanks for adding more value with your comments here. I agree with your thoughts that we should treat people according to their competency and not generalise.
Hi Kapil! Great post! As people, we have always categorized people into different categories. It’s a way of differentiating people from one another. Although I have no problem with grouping, the problem I do have is that this grouping is often done due to negative characteristics. We always seem to pull the “bad” from everyone. The generational clash is definitely not a new issue as generational opinions will always differ and relate to the times. However, it seems the Gen-Y “go easy lifestyle” a matter of life being better now than before has caused opposition from people in older generations that worked “hard”. The problem is an inherent issue in humans to be different from everyone else and focusing those differences on negatives issues. I agree with you when you say we should all work together. But that can only start once we start focusing on the positive aspects everyone can contribute as opposed to the negative ones.
HI Josip!
Could not agree more… Great point you have mentioned about the positive, negative aspects and the perception older generation have on the lifestyle. I agree with you on that. Thanks!
Hi Kapil and everyone;-)
Categories, Measurements, Ranks in Org Chart, those are “boxes” , which were needed in the age of mass production and mass consumption.
At the moment we are blessed/cursed to live in age of choices and many options!
Diversity wins! What was good enough before is not even average now, understanding this changes force one to RE- LEARN and LEARN constantly. Generation Y has “advantage” that they do not have to re-learn that much as those born earlier.
Embracing the change and adding value means to acknowledge current patterns in environment and get over from stories”when I was young…” etc., it is not like this anymore and I personally learn from teenagers, who can really educate me in many areas of life.
Those companies who want to succeed must be truly open to work together, to treat each other with respect and create future together, after all we should know why we do what we do.Having a common WHY and purpose helps tremendously to overcome even generational clashes.
Happy leading be example to all.
cheers from Slovakia
i.
Hi Ivana,
While I agree with your points. The “boxes” still continue to exist even though we need an change in the approach from organisations. Hope that it changes in the right time. Thanks for sharing your views.
Cheers from Poland
Kapil
“No matter which generation are you in the focus and aim should be to perform and deliver value.” – I second that. In my view, the basic characteristics, aspirations and emotions of humans remain the same – technologies change, economies change but people are people – and best way to manage them is to ensure that they grow along with their work and add value to the business/customers.
Hi Tanmay,
I agree with your views. Thanks for sharing your valuable thoughts…