Fact, Fiction... or Should We Just Get Back To Work?
A Podcast with Stan Smith, Principal, National Director, Next Generation Initiatives Talent, Deloitte LLP
 Stan Smith
Questions Peter Clayton asked Stan Smith in the interview:
Your new book is titled Decoding Generational Differences: Fact, fiction... or should we just get back to work? What led you to write a book?
We talked about a year ago about a white paper you wrote titled Managing across Generations. Is your book an expansion of the white paper?
You and I have talked about the fact that the new generation of workers, the gen Y'ers or Millennials, (those born after 1980), don't buy what corporate America is trying to sell them for career opportunities. In fact, in your book, you've structured 3 divides to discuss these issues: technology, attitudes toward business, and consumer attitudes. I'd like you to spend some time on each of these and tell us what your experience and research has uncovered.
You tell a story about a university professor which I think perfectly encapsulates the Millenial attitude.
You have an ingenious convention you use in your book a "heckler" who pops up every so often to challenge you ideas. And I'm sure the heckler is a composite of many conversations you've had with boomers, in particular, i.e. "I wanted what these young people want when I was their age but I had to adapt to business realities. Won't the same thing happen to them?"
I want to return to technology for a minute, because so much of what is happening in the workforce today is influenced by tech. You refer to the millennials as "technology natives." What are some of the biggest issues boomers trying to manage these multitaskers face?
As you know, I interviewed Cathleen Benko, Vice-Chairman and Deloitte's first Managing Principal of Talent. Cathy is the co-author of "Mass Career Customization" which draws many ideas from consumer research. You write Millennials approach life as engaged consumers.
Here's Stan Smith's decoded message. His list of qualities that are necessary for dreaming with results, called the 6 Be's:
1. Be compassionate... understand the challenges of others and do something about them
2. Be optimistic... expect the best in all things - even when the good in a situation is heavily disguised
3. Be credible... demonstrate that you know how your business makes money and build a reputation of being data based and balanced in the advise you offer and in the initiatives you support.
4. Be confident... confident in the face of resistance to more flexible ways of working, confident in the face of colleagues who don't just jump up and shake your hand when the results of your initiatives point out what they haven't been doing
5. Be creative... remember that our job is to be educators and to help others have an imagination.
6. Be glad... because the work of finding ways to constructively communicate in the workplace is critical in a world where technology and hyper-competitiveness have combined to put intense pressure on people to be on call all the time, 24/7.
Resources: W. Stanton Smith, Deloitte
Shaun Budnick and Stan Smith discuss Life, Inc. (Total Picture Radio Podcast)
Cathleen Benko, Mass Career Customization (Total Picture Radio Podcast)
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