As a history student in college (history of political thought, for all you fans of the Republic) and still an obsessive researcher of generational demographic trends (everyone should start with Strauss & Howe) I understand that to study history (contemporary or ancient), you must study generational shifts in thinking, because the way the generation thinks helps us to understand and explain historical action. And maybe predict future action.
So I think a lot about what Generation Z will be like. I have written before about what Generation Z will be like at work , but I've been thinking, recently, that the way Gen Z is educated will change the workplace when they enter it.
Baby boomers changed politics, Gen X changed family, Gen Y changed work, and Gen Z will change education. Here's how the education of Gen Z will affect us at work.
1. A huge wave of homeschooling will create a more self-directed workforce.
Homeschooling is going mainstream. We have known for a while that public education in the United States is largely terrible. Yes, there are pockets that are exceptional, but for the most part, we have an education crisis on our hands. But Baby Boomers were too scared to solve the crisis with homeschooling. If you homeschool your kids, you take them out of the typical ways to measure how well kids are doing in the competition. Baby Boomers couldn't handle that, and they also wanted to work full-time, so instead of homeschooling, Baby Boomers got kids tons of tutoring and extra help after school.
Gen X is more comfortable working outside the system than Baby Boomers. Gen X women are fine quitting their jobs to take care of their kids—they have no feminist ax to grind in the workplace. And Gen X parents don't feel a need to have their kid compete because Gen X is so noncompetitive. So homeschooling among Gen X parents is becoming mainstream. It's no longer just for religious radicals and problem children. Homeschooling is for parents who know public schools are broken and don't have $20,000 a year for private school.
This means we will have a generation of kids who grew up with largely a self-learning, self-directed model. They are more accustomed to figuring out what they like to do, and doing it on their own. The crisis to figure out what to do with one's life will not last so long because Gen X will raise more independent and self-directed kids.
2. Homeschooling as kids will become unschooling as adults.
We have established that school does not prepare people for work. In fact, Gen Y has been very vocal about this problem because a) they did everything they were told to do and it didn't help them get a job and b) we have a national crisis because gen y has huge debt from college and little ability to pay it back.
With alternative schooling and an emphasis on independent investigation, Generation Z will be the first group of knowledge workers who were trained to do their job before they started working. For example, Generation Z will be great at synthesizing information because they will have been doing that—rather than memorizing—the whole time they were in school.
The workplace ramification of this shift in learning is that Generation Z will have no problem directing their careers. They will know how to figure out what skill to learn next, and they will have more self-discipline to do it on their own.
When Gen Z enters the workforce, the older people, Gen X and Gen Y, will work to live, not live to work. This will be something Gen X and Gen Y fought hard for. To Gen Z it will be easy to do and self-learning will take center stage in their work day. So, as qualifications for the workplace will rapidly change and older people who don’t keep up will be outdated, it will be Generation Z that is best at keeping up. Not because they are young, but because they understand that unschooling is not a movement for kids, but a way to live a life, and it doesn't stop when you start getting a paycheck.
3. The college degree will return to its bourgeois roots; entrepreneurship will rule.
The homeschooling movement will prepare Generation Y to skip college, and Gen X is out-of-the-box enough in their parenting to support that.
One of the books that really changed the way I think is Zac Bissonnette’s book, Debt-Free U. He explains why no one should go into debt for college. It's just not worth it. He says, even if your parents have the money to pay for college, use it for something better—like buying yourself a franchise and learning something that'll really help you establish yourself in the adult world.
Baby Boomers are too competitive to risk pulling the college rug out from under their kids. And Gen Y are rule followers—if adults tell them to go to college, they will go. Gen X is very practical and is also the first generation in American history to have less money than their parents. So it makes sense that Gen X would be the generation to tell their kids to forget about college.
Ninety percent of Gen Y say they want to be entrepreneurs, but only a very small percent of them will ever launch a full-fledged business, because Generation Y are not really risk takers. However I am guessing (based on links like this one) that most members of Gen X have, at some point, worked for themselves. The entrepreneurship bug will be in full force when Gen Z comes along. They will feel they have no choice but to do that or weather an unstable workplace with huge college debt. People will trade in a college degree for on-the-job learning. The result will be a smarter workforce and the end of universities as a patronage system for philosophers.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
How Generation Z screws Generation Y: Insider information
At this point, the oldest in Generation Z are just turning 13, and we have enough information about the two demographics to predict what will happen. Aside from my case of schadenfreude, I’m particularly interested in Generation Z because my sons are smack in the middle of it. But also I’m interested because if we understand the impact the next generation will have on the workforce, we’re better able to adapt our own careers for it. So get ready:
1. In generational conflict Generation Y will hide.
All generations have conflict between each other. But conflict is really bad for Generation Y because they hate conflict. They are the generation that moves home with their parents because they get along so well, and they apologize for quitting because they can’t cope with disappointing their boss. Generation Y is sunny, upbeat, and non-confrontational. Which means that Generation Z, raised by pragmatic, confrontational Gen X parents, will think Gen Y are lame. Weak. Delusional. (Which are the negative traits of kind and non-confrontational.)
2. Gen Z will lead Gen Y almost immediately.
Gen Y hates to stand out. Their idea of leadership is leading from the middle. Or pretending people don’t like leaders. This has not been a problem for them because Gen X doesn’t want to lead. Gen X just want to go home to their kids. So the only people providing top-down leadership at work right now are Baby Boomers who refuse to retire and exist miles and miles from the cutting edge of everything except the new retirement.
So there will be a power vacuum when Gen Z enters the workforce, and they will take it over very quickly. All they’ll need to do is say, “I want to lead.” No one will challenge them. And, conveniently, Strauss and Howe point out that generational tendencies are cyclical, and Generation Z is poised to lead. They grew up in a time of turmoil: economic demise, war, rampant, random shootings. Generation Z will take charge, create stability, keep everything in line.
3. The passion problem will be passe.
Gen Y is immobilized by their need to “do what they love”. Their Boomer parents instilled in them the fairy tale idea that passion should guide what they do. But Baby Boomers have never had this, except when they were unemployed at Woodstock, and their impractical, dreamer career advice has left their kids unable to make decisions. Gen Y has a passion problem. But this will end when Gen Z comes on board.
First of all, Generation Z will be the education generation. They will have been homeschooled at a rate we have never seen before, so they will be great at identifying what they like. Generation Y, on the other hand, was schooled by teachers who told them what to study to ace the test, and parents hired tutors to help, which means Gen Y is particularly good at taking tests and bad at figuring out what they like. Generation Z will fill the gap and simply tell Generation Y what to do.
Generation Z will give meaning to work in a way that Gen Y has talked about but has been incapable of achieving. Work will be about creating a national sense of stability. Work will be about helping families to adjust to the new economic realities. Work will be about helping people build new paths through adulthood that do not focus on the corporation. Gen Z has been priming for this their whole lifes, with their counter-culture, Gen X parents.
4. Gen Z will out-communicate Gen Y.
Right now, Gen Y are the best communicators at work. They are the first generation to be taught social skills at work, and they are genuinely kind and concerned about people. Additionally Gen Y are the first generation who grew up writing for a massive audience, even as kids, and they are the generation with the best writing skills in history.
This will all seem old-fashioned, though, when Gen Z is on the scene. Gen Z communicates largely through video. They use YouTube like it’s Google. For example, when they want to know how to beat a video game, they search online for a video to tell them: no reading.
Teenaged boys are giving video game lectures to thousands of other kids. Teenaged girls are political activists who have their own video platform before they’re thirteen years old. The poise Gen Z has in front of the camera will translate to workplace confidence and charisma. This will be the age of verbal communication rather than written, and Gen Z will shine.
5. Gen Z will force Gen Y to live more in reality.
Gen Y’s obsession with travel is rooted in their acute need to feel special and different and document it in a way their friends approve of. Also, Gen Y has no money, so they are forced to say they value experience above possessions since they can’t afford possessions beyond their de rigeur Apple equipment and marked-down high-end purchases they self-define with.
Jan Chipchase is a great example of the travel-is-everything mentality; he does brag tweets about his job that is nearly 100% travel. Another example: Gen Y brides who forgo the wedding and just splurge on a big trip and a photographer to document the dress in an exotic location. Gen Y lives on Facebook and Instagram, and their reality is whatever is in the photo.
Generation Z is over the photography thing already. Every gadget they have has a camera. Their parents have documented their every move, and they are expecting to have no disposable income, so they won’t’ need to post photos justifying their existeence.
So Gen Z will shine a light on Gen Y and expose a lot that Gen Y hasn’t seen before. But the truth is that every generation keeps the generation before them more honest. In the end, I’m grateful for the Gen Yers who worked with me, and forced me to see myself differently. I am less cynical and more sunny becuase I was surrounded by Gen Yers.
And they will be better, too, once they get over the shock of someone younger than them in the mix.
1. In generational conflict Generation Y will hide.
All generations have conflict between each other. But conflict is really bad for Generation Y because they hate conflict. They are the generation that moves home with their parents because they get along so well, and they apologize for quitting because they can’t cope with disappointing their boss. Generation Y is sunny, upbeat, and non-confrontational. Which means that Generation Z, raised by pragmatic, confrontational Gen X parents, will think Gen Y are lame. Weak. Delusional. (Which are the negative traits of kind and non-confrontational.)
2. Gen Z will lead Gen Y almost immediately.
Gen Y hates to stand out. Their idea of leadership is leading from the middle. Or pretending people don’t like leaders. This has not been a problem for them because Gen X doesn’t want to lead. Gen X just want to go home to their kids. So the only people providing top-down leadership at work right now are Baby Boomers who refuse to retire and exist miles and miles from the cutting edge of everything except the new retirement.
So there will be a power vacuum when Gen Z enters the workforce, and they will take it over very quickly. All they’ll need to do is say, “I want to lead.” No one will challenge them. And, conveniently, Strauss and Howe point out that generational tendencies are cyclical, and Generation Z is poised to lead. They grew up in a time of turmoil: economic demise, war, rampant, random shootings. Generation Z will take charge, create stability, keep everything in line.
3. The passion problem will be passe.
Gen Y is immobilized by their need to “do what they love”. Their Boomer parents instilled in them the fairy tale idea that passion should guide what they do. But Baby Boomers have never had this, except when they were unemployed at Woodstock, and their impractical, dreamer career advice has left their kids unable to make decisions. Gen Y has a passion problem. But this will end when Gen Z comes on board.
First of all, Generation Z will be the education generation. They will have been homeschooled at a rate we have never seen before, so they will be great at identifying what they like. Generation Y, on the other hand, was schooled by teachers who told them what to study to ace the test, and parents hired tutors to help, which means Gen Y is particularly good at taking tests and bad at figuring out what they like. Generation Z will fill the gap and simply tell Generation Y what to do.
Generation Z will give meaning to work in a way that Gen Y has talked about but has been incapable of achieving. Work will be about creating a national sense of stability. Work will be about helping families to adjust to the new economic realities. Work will be about helping people build new paths through adulthood that do not focus on the corporation. Gen Z has been priming for this their whole lifes, with their counter-culture, Gen X parents.
4. Gen Z will out-communicate Gen Y.
Right now, Gen Y are the best communicators at work. They are the first generation to be taught social skills at work, and they are genuinely kind and concerned about people. Additionally Gen Y are the first generation who grew up writing for a massive audience, even as kids, and they are the generation with the best writing skills in history.
This will all seem old-fashioned, though, when Gen Z is on the scene. Gen Z communicates largely through video. They use YouTube like it’s Google. For example, when they want to know how to beat a video game, they search online for a video to tell them: no reading.
Teenaged boys are giving video game lectures to thousands of other kids. Teenaged girls are political activists who have their own video platform before they’re thirteen years old. The poise Gen Z has in front of the camera will translate to workplace confidence and charisma. This will be the age of verbal communication rather than written, and Gen Z will shine.
5. Gen Z will force Gen Y to live more in reality.
Gen Y’s obsession with travel is rooted in their acute need to feel special and different and document it in a way their friends approve of. Also, Gen Y has no money, so they are forced to say they value experience above possessions since they can’t afford possessions beyond their de rigeur Apple equipment and marked-down high-end purchases they self-define with.
Jan Chipchase is a great example of the travel-is-everything mentality; he does brag tweets about his job that is nearly 100% travel. Another example: Gen Y brides who forgo the wedding and just splurge on a big trip and a photographer to document the dress in an exotic location. Gen Y lives on Facebook and Instagram, and their reality is whatever is in the photo.
Generation Z is over the photography thing already. Every gadget they have has a camera. Their parents have documented their every move, and they are expecting to have no disposable income, so they won’t’ need to post photos justifying their existeence.
So Gen Z will shine a light on Gen Y and expose a lot that Gen Y hasn’t seen before. But the truth is that every generation keeps the generation before them more honest. In the end, I’m grateful for the Gen Yers who worked with me, and forced me to see myself differently. I am less cynical and more sunny becuase I was surrounded by Gen Yers.
And they will be better, too, once they get over the shock of someone younger than them in the mix.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Solution to Internet Explorer
Does your Internet Explorer always fail you? Cannot open a tab, and cannot download anything. If I do IE crashes and
the tab switches to a message that says, "Internet Explorer has closed
this webpage to help protect your computer."
Open up a command prompt and type ftp releases.mozilla.org and hit enter. It'll ask you for a user name, which is anonymous, and a password which you can just leave blank. You should now have an ftp prompt.
Now you'll need to change the directory to the one that contains the firefox installer we want. To do this, type cd pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/18.0/win32/en-US and hit enter (or if you want a different localisation change the en-US bit).
Now we tell the client we want to grab a binary file, simply by using the binary command. We then change the local directory the client will download the file to, which we do by entering lcd C:\ (or wherever you want to put the file). Oh, and we're also going to want to know that the file is downloading, so use the hash command to instruct the client to print a # for every 2048 bytes (which will fill your command prompt with 3600 or so hashes).
All we have to do now is grab the firefox installer, which we do by typing get "Firefox Setup 18.0.exe" and watch your screen slowly fill with # symbols.
It'll let you know once the file is complete, and once it is simply type quit to close the connection and exit the ftp client.
Open up a command prompt and type ftp releases.mozilla.org and hit enter. It'll ask you for a user name, which is anonymous, and a password which you can just leave blank. You should now have an ftp prompt.
Now you'll need to change the directory to the one that contains the firefox installer we want. To do this, type cd pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/18.0/win32/en-US and hit enter (or if you want a different localisation change the en-US bit).
Now we tell the client we want to grab a binary file, simply by using the binary command. We then change the local directory the client will download the file to, which we do by entering lcd C:\ (or wherever you want to put the file). Oh, and we're also going to want to know that the file is downloading, so use the hash command to instruct the client to print a # for every 2048 bytes (which will fill your command prompt with 3600 or so hashes).
All we have to do now is grab the firefox installer, which we do by typing get "Firefox Setup 18.0.exe" and watch your screen slowly fill with # symbols.
It'll let you know once the file is complete, and once it is simply type quit to close the connection and exit the ftp client.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Thursday, January 03, 2013
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