I believe that wisdom isn’t necessarily a matter of age or experience, but rather the result of deep thinking, as opposed to distracted thinking.

Last spring my young friend, “Carrie,” started an online diary. The entries are very brief, but the thought behind them is anything but.

They contain far more thought and intelligent conclusions than many folks who have been around decades longer — of course, most people have never asked the questions, let alone thought deeply about them.

Carrie has a brutal schedule, so there are only four entries, which means it will only take a few minutes for you to read them.

Here are a couple of teasers.

Trust me,…Honestly,… But here’s the thing,…
Society has developed a language of layers. We talk in circles that have little points and more layers of why anything and everything happened.

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Push or get pushed. Walk or get walked on. Laugh or be laughed at. The concept of survivor of the fittest grows unnaturally in our culture.

However, it will take much longer to follow the thoughts they trigger.

Image credit credit: Chris McBrien

the more they stay the some.

Does this sound familiar?

“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”

The result of a new study? The words of a trusted expert?

No, it’s a quote from Socrates (469-399 B.C.).

Just as the Boomer generation was defined by the actions of a large minority, not all Boomers did drugs and dropped out, so the millennial generation has been defined by another large minority.

But they are a minority.
New patterns show they may not be as self-absorbed as they first appeared — maybe as a result of ageing.

But a very different picture of millennials emerges from what may be the most illuminating literary project of our era, the Pew Research Center’s sequence of reports on millennials. The 2010 edition, subtitled “Confident. Connected. Open to Change,” offered an X-ray of its first wave, the “roughly 50 million millennials who currently span the ages of 18 to 29.”

After all, you wouldn’t expect a 29-year-old’s attitudes and goals to be the same as an 18-year-old’s.

Socrates’ words show two things clearly.

1. Every generation has been sure that the following generation will be the downfall of the human race.
2. Every generation has been wrong.

Flickr image credit: Ben Crowe

Media, including me, have termed Millennials the “entitled generation,” but, as with most things, there are two sides to the coin.

Over the last few years I’ve written about what I call “aMillennials” and I still think the term is apt.

As they age, the difference has become clearer.

Some Millennials still seem to think they are entitled to a job because they are there and promoted because they show up; in general, they feel they are owed something by the world at large.

aMillennials believe they should be hired because they can contribute, challenged to grow and that hard work will get them promoted.

They also have the silly idea that there is more to life than work.

 “There’s a huge gap across the generations in terms of how people look at the whole question of time and commitment and what that means,” said Stewart D. Friedman, director of the Wharton Work/Life Integration Project and the author of “Baby Bust: New Choices for Men and Women in Work and Family.”

They crave transparently, have little patience with corporate games and vote with their feet when stymied.

“People are just more disaffected now with that kind of lifestyle and want to have a greater sense of control,” Mr. Friedman said. “Where companies don’t provide that sense of meaning and purpose, their brand as employer is weakened. They’re not going to be able to compete for the best and the brightest.”

aMillenial-style entitlement is even invading the hallowed halls of Wall Street.

“The longstanding tradition of 100-hour work weeks, that’s not going to be easy to change, but I applaud these efforts,” Mr. Friedman said. “The young people, after two years in an analyst program at a bank on Wall Street, they’re burnt out, they’re saying ‘I don’t want to live like this.’”

Given the attitude, you can expect careers, from medicine to finance, that have historically included long hours, total immersion, high stress and total commitment to change and the changes will be wrenching.

What it means to business, both large and small, is a willingness to provide meaningful work as opposed to just a paycheck—no matter how fat.

Please join me Friday for a first person look at this change and another view on what’s driving it.

Flickr image credit: Jannes Pockele

Experts love to study the Millennials and make wonderful pronouncements across an entire generation.

The latest research looks at what Gen Y wants from their career—meaning or happiness.

• Meaning our lives have purpose, value, impact and usually a feeling of being connected to a larger goal.
• Happiness is more self-directed with a laser focus on ‘me’.

In everyday terms you are a giver or a taker.

Those who reported having a meaningful life saw themselves as more other-oriented — by being, more specifically, a “giver.” People who said that doing things for others was important to them reported having more meaning in their lives. This was in stark contrast to those who reported having a happy life. Happiness was associated with being more self-oriented — by being a “taker.”     …  Having children, for instance, is associated with high meaning but lower happiness. Having children, for instance, is associated with high meaning but lower happiness.

Funny; the giver/taker label seems to fit every person I’ve ever met.

While I’m not a trained professional, I don’t see where they are mutually exclusive—children obviously provide meaning, but they also make most parents happy.

The problem Millennial studies have is the same as the studies of the Boomers, i.e., 80 million individuals make generalizations questionable; however, one point does make a lot of sense.

Millennials have been forced to reconsider what a successful life constitutes. By focusing on making a positive difference in the lives of others, rather than on more materialistic markers of success, they are setting themselves up for the meaningful life they yearn to have…

Yup; nothing like a crappy economy to undercut an entitled mindset.

Flickr image credit: One Way Stock

I managed over 12,000 people at Groupon, most under the age of 25. One thing that surprised me was that many would arrive at orientation with minimal understanding of basic business wisdom. “Haven’t you read any business books? Good to Great? Winning? The One Minute Manager?” I’d ask. “Business books? Not really our thing,” was the typical response. I came to realize that there was a real need to present business wisdom in a format that is more accessible to the younger generation. Andrew Mason

While “most under the age of 25. (…) arrive at orientation with minimal understanding of basic business wisdom”  surprised ousted Groupon CEO Andrew Mason, it probably doesn’t surprise most seasoned managers.

Managers have always assumed there was a general business learning curve when hiring new grads, but what has changed is how steep it’s become.

One exasperated manager described it as “remedial orientation”—from showing up on time every day looking presentable, being ready to work and paying attention during meetings to not wearing an iPod/checking Facebook/playing Angry Birds in front of customers—much of what used to come under the heading of ‘common courtesy’ and ‘basic living skills’.

Mason’s solution is recording a “seven-song album of motivational business music.”

Reading business books has never been high on the list of most 22-year-olds, so what has changed?

My own view is that most of the time the need for remedial orientation can be traced back to parents and how they chose to raise their kids.

Flickr image credit: Keith Laverack

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

It will come as no surprise that most young people want to work for startups or small biz.

Of those aged 19 to 29 who were surveyed, 47 percent work for companies with less than 100 employees, and 30 percent work for medium sized companies that have between 100 and 1,500 employees.

Or that they aren’t the top preference for larger companies.

Another study found that older, more established companies are less likely to hire younger people than are newer companies.

“Ah ha,” I can hear you thinking, “That proves I’m hiring the right talent.”

Are you sure?

Or does it just prove you are hiring deep within your own comfort zone, as are those in large companies?

Option Sanity™ establishes a new comfort zone.
Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock allocation system.  It’s so easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.
Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.”
Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Flickr image credit: HikingArtist

Brian LaFaille is young; just 12 months out of school and into the workforce, yet the attitude he recommends for other newbies is one managers at any level would, metaphorically speaking, kill to have on their team.

Additionally, many (all?) of the 10 lessons he says he learned in his first year have gone unlearned by people with 10, 20 even 30 times his experience.

Haven’t learned of just forgotten; either way they are the lessons and actions of the best employees, whether in a startup or a Fortune 25 Corporation.

Most are self explanatory, but Brian’s detailed explanation of each is worth reading.

Take Advantage of the Seasoned Veterans Around You (or the don’t-know-any-better newbies –Miki)

Find a Passion Outside of Work

Be Active and Get Healthy

Never Think You’re Too Junior (or senior –Miki)

Constantly Challenge Yourself

Learn About Every Part of Your Company

Never Limit Yourself to One Role

Grab a Good Pair of Headphones

Don’t Be Afraid to Propose a Change

Work hard, but Work Smart

Now answer these questions:

1. Which do you do now?
2. Which did you used to do?
3. Which will you do in the future?

Flickr image credit: Mike McCune

Entitlement is a hallmark of many Millennials, but if you have a startup entitlement can literally kill it, as it has done many times.

A first-hand example is provided in Battling Entitlement, the Innovation Killer.

The belief that one is special and therefore is entitled to special treatment is rampant these days from those who feel they deserve more to join—more stock, more money, more title—to the frequent epidemics of founder ego that sweep across startup land.

But what about the not so obvious, such as a lack of accountability and favoritism?

Both are forms of entitlement that kill initiative, which, in turn, kills innovation right along with productivity, engagement, loyalty and a host of other desirable attitudes and actions.

Many younger employees are entering the workplace with no real understanding of accountability and many older employees have worked for managers who don’t enforce viable accountability in their organizations.

Accountability requires consequences and consequences need to be implemented evenly across the entire organization, with the only exceptions being made publicly and whose basis is obvious and acceptable to the rest of the team, e.g., serious illness, death, etc.

Founders and managers who claim to have no time to spare for accountability and use termination as a solution exacerbate the problem.

Bosses, whether entrepreneurs or not, have a responsibility to both their company and their people—enforcing accountability while stamping out entitlement is a big piece of it.

Image credit: Warning Sign Generator

Company cultures are much like the people who create them, unique on the outside, but similar basics on the inside—good like good or bad like bad. It’s how those basics manifest themselves that the world calls culture.

First up from Forbes is a quick overview of the basics; it’s a long way from comprehensive, but it’s a place to start.

There’s a lot of talk these days about how Millennials are demanding/driving change in corporate culture, but when you look at what they want it’s similar to what most people want. The difference is found more in their attitude—as it is in all generations.

Creating culture is an inside out function—what is inside the boss will form the foundation of what is inside the culture—for better or worse—so know the culture and you know the boss and vice versa.

• Pamela Fields, CEO, Stetson
• Lars Björk, CEO, QlikTech and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year national winner in the technology category.
• Amanda Lannert, CEO, Jellyvision Lab; Kevin Willer, co-founder, Google’s Chicago office; and Ed Scanlan, founder/CEO, Total Attorneys.

Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho

Much has been written about Gen Y, AKA, Millennials, in the workforce—the difficulty hiring them, the problems managing them and the much greater problems of retaining them.

What makes them so different?

“When they get to the workplace, they have a sense of entitlement, a need for validation, difficulty in really discerning what to do because their whole lives were managed,” –Christine Hassler, Gen Y career expert and consultant.

Not only managing them, but also fighting their fights—even at the office.

There are eighty million Gen Y, but not all of them fit this description; millions of them are ‘aMillennials‘.

The funny thing (as I’ve said before) is that when you look at a list of what turns Gen Y off you’ll find the same traits that turn off 90+% of the workforce.

• Inflexibility.
• Judgmental attitudes.
• Close-mindedness.
• Unwillingness to listen to and respect Gen Y’s opinions, ideas and views.
• Intimidation.

Yuk! Nobody wants to work for someone like that; the difference is that Gen Y may less patient and quicker to leave—at least until they have a mortgage and kids to consider.

Ryan Healy, co-founder and COO of Brazen Careerist, attributes companies’ success to culture.

“The companies that are doing it well and right know that it’s really about the culture you create.”

Tony Hsieh is well known for creating a culture that both attracts and retains and it’s not just for Millennials.

Flickr image credit: debaird