What do Millennials, Leadership, Exponentiality and “Going Viral” have in common?
You may have once read that : …a doctor in the USA is likely to have much more in common with a doctor in Bulgaria than he would with a US blue collar worker. Equally, the same would apply to the Bulgarian doctor in relation to his US peer compared to his fellow Bulgarian compatriot.
How could one apply this principle across generations?
Could it be that a millennial in the USA has more in common with a millennial in Bulgaria than a Boomer in the USA?
Assuming it were true, does this explain why organisations have been stressing in perpetuity about Millennials in the workplace?
Over the years, we’ve all clicked on these types of headlines:
- “How to Manage Millennials: 8 Ways to Do it Right”
- “Effectively Managing “Typical” Millennial Workplace Traits …”
- “Rule No. 1 For Dealing With Millennials In The Workplace”
Why is it so difficult for organisations to successfully secure and pass down much needed leadership skills across generations?
Why are millennials perceived as so complex, challenging and unpredictable in the workplace?
Are they?
May I suggest this is a coincidence?
Could one not argue that the rise in complexity, challenges and unpredictability facing organisations today, is merely coincidental to the rise of millennials as the now most represented generation in the workforce?
So what is the big underlying issue?
For any millennial reading, what has been the constant challenge facing you, as far as you can remember?
Change.
Of recent times, accelerating change.
Today increasingly, exponential change.
When 2020 started, how many of us really understood what “exponential change” looked like and what it meant for us? Yes, some may have heard of it from Tech Gurus & Futurists. But how many of us have truly been able to conceptualize it?
Today, exponential change and its hitherto inconceivable power have been on full display: enter Covid-19.
Now, imagine this force applied in other parts of our daily lives: Technology, Science, Social Media, Inventions, Arts, Charity, Ideology…
How will we change our thinking following this pandemic?
What do millennials, leadership and exponentiality and “going viral” have in common?
They all happen to co-exist at the same time in a complex, challenging and unpredictable world. Sometimes things change so fast, we do not even remember how it all started. So let’s keep up, adapt and perpetually embrace change.
