by chelseagirl
Millennial Backlash:
[Via Clippings]
Larry Dignan has a classic rant on how Millennials will run into a wall when they go to work and confront Six Sigma and enterprise IT. Funny, and its a good sanity check, but nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, we live in a complex world my friends, and this demographic shift shouldn’t be underestimated.
First, this is the largest demographic shift in history. Size matters. When you have the NetGens, the biggest generation, entering the workforce when the Baby Boomers, the second biggest, are leaving (in some industries 1/3 of the workforce in 3 years) — it creates conditions for change.
Second, the pace of technological change is quickening. Larry suggests that they will come to work and find out that it makes sense to centralize IT. Trendlines and clouds suggest otherwise. I also believe this effects management structures and practices.
Third, there is that social thing. According to an Essex study on the Generation Gap, NetGens count 70 social connections on average, compared to those over 50 and working who count just 20 contacts. This is a significant difference, not necessarily in how connected they are, but their views on what constitutes a connection.
Fourth, you can stereotype by generation. Its a large group of people that have shared experiences and temporal context compounded by the influence of technology. I don’t know, Larry, is this some masked ploy to undermine evolution to teach religion in schools? ;-P
Kidding, but what I think Larry is really saying is he has meme exhaustion.
It will be interesting to see who affects whom the most. While I don’t expect capitalism to disappear, it will adapt to the use of these technologies. Because many successful organizations will have to be nimble, learning to use innovative approaches to solve complex problems. Social networks have always permitted this.
The social networks of the Millennials will have impacts. But the way they change the world will probably not be just the way we think.
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