How to Manage “Us”
To our parent’s generation (read: the boomers),
You run America. (Right now)
I’m on a plane to Boston and reflecting on a few of the meetings that I’ve had this week with various friends around the Valley and San Francisco. Many of these conversations center on the state of current social network technology and move into deeper discussions around the social implications of these community environments and why our generation is so enthralled with them.
There’s a coming wave. And, it’s going to change the world of work.
Our generation is different. I say this, because I’m on the leading edge of a generation of people who have grown up with the computer. We’ve literally grown alongside the internet. From it’s inception to its current state as a confused and evolving twenty-something. We grew up being told that working on teams was important, that forming community was essential, and that we all deserve to win.
We communicate so quickly, and so pervasively that your brain simply can’t understand it. We know that multi-tasking isn’t truly multitasking, and that our brains can only consciously process things sequentially. But our brains have learned how to switch between communication platforms so quickly and efficiently it doesn’t really matter. We know this scares you. (We all talk about it, online)
We went through school collaborating and using technologies to accomplish tasks, projects, and objectives extremely fast. Because you invented, then taught us these technologies, we learned how to learn at break-neck speeds (read: we can learn your job, at incredible speed). We learned how to do all of this at amazing quality. Because that’s what America does. We win.
You may think we’re a generation born of entitlement. That we think we deserve great jobs, and great job environments. (In reality, we want to take cubes away for your sake too) The fact of the matter is that if you don’t let us work how you taught us to, we’ll search elsewhere. I just had 3 friends quit Morgan Stanley because they couldn’t send an instant message or personal email during their work day. We’ll leave your company too. I’m fortunate to work at a company that embraces digital culture.
The internet has become a part of everyone’s lives, all the time. It is the most vast network of human consciousness ever created. We all use email, instant messaging, and represent ourselves in community sites online. In the beginning, we did this all anonymously, hiding behind screen names and cryptic email addresses.
This has all changed.
Written from United Flight SFO-BOS – Published from Cupertino, California
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