Our generation is an anomaly. We refuse to do things their way, so they call us entitled. We refuse to sit in cubicles, so they call us spoiled. We refuse to follow their plans, so they call us stubborn. What they are slowly realizing, however, is we’re not lazy, stubborn or entitled. We just refuse to accept things as they’re given to us.
Ran across the quote above from a list entitled “50 Things About Millennials That Make Corporate America Sh*t Its Pants”, and while I don’t completely agree with the entire list, I think it makes some valid points. Often we evaluate that the current “young people” generation’s behavior by previous generation’s standards: If they look like they’re not working, then they’re not. They complain but ultimately will do nothing, when in reality they actually might. As someone who is “between” generations (1982, my birth year, is at the end of Gen X), I see a lot of my beliefs in this list, but also see the value in previous generation’s points of view. Yes, it may seem strange to wear a suit and tie (I don’t wear ties), but to previous generations this was the same status symbol message that newer generations crave by ditching them. In other words, your parents and grandparents wanted a job where a suit and tie were required because that meant they were doing well and making decisions that mattered. Today we want a job without one for the same reasons.
Love or hate Millennials, but like every generation before them, they’re going to change the world. Perhaps not as radically as they (or others) think, but it’s each generation’s job to shake things up a bit!