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Brett March 23rd, 2009

“I just want to have fun.”

 

You would’ve thought that nuclear Armageddon had come from the way my dad’s jaw dropped as we drove around the winding streets of San Diego. 

“What did you just say??” he exclaimed.
I knew that signal…it looked like it was going to be long drive home as the lecture on hard work began…

 

I’m sure a few of you have found yourself in a similar situation when you gave the ‘wrong’ response to the “What do you want to do with your life?” question.  While I was only a junior in high school at the time, the discussion has always stuck in my head (which as I recall quickly turned from a dialogue into a monologue), and the question of what to do with my life after school has always plagued me.  I think the same question faces many young professionals when they begin their careers.  The thought of entering the job world (for me) has always been associated with a loss of self, like you no longer have control over your own life, and that idea frightened me. 

 

Growing up we are told that we can be anything we want to be, and then all of the sudden the day after graduation we have start choosing, but how do we know it is the right choice?  I think what makes it even harder is that unlike the older guy in “the Graduate” who recommends plastics to Dustin Hoffman, our parents have told us to find what we are passionate about, which I think is much harder.

 

Coming back to the conversation with my dad, he explained to me how work was not fun, and that I could not expect it to be so.  The goal of work is to provide me something to live on he said, and not for me to diddle around like a kid.  I have never accepted this idea however.  Aside from sleeping, a person probably works more than any other activity.  Why therefore wouldn’t I want to find something I enjoy?  And as we work longer and longer hours (yes Gen Ys work as long or longer than older generations) our work lives and personal lives blur.

 

I must say that my dad has been right on about 99% of the life stuff, but I think he has not adjusted to the times in this instance.  The world is rapidly changing, and the old rules or what constitutes work no longer apply.  I believe that part of my generation’s quest is to find jobs that satisfy them, and after our upbringing, we will be neither satisfied nor accept it until we do.  Too often adults squelch our ideas as being unrealistic, but in reality isn’t this what they have been searching for all their lives as well?  I have no desire to go through a mid life crisis, waking up one day and realizing that I am a drone who works 9 to 6 Monday thru Friday, sees their family for two hours at night, and oh yeah plays golf on the weekend (did you catch the Old School reference).  We are told constantly that we need to grow up, and yet every movie I see or article that I read about grown up life sounds miserable.  Why can’t life be as fun as an ‘adult’ as it was when we were kids?

 

Let me be clear.  I am under no illusion that success or work requires no effort and that I can just sit back and expect things to happen.  I think that stereotype of my generation could not be further from the truth because as kids we were highly engaged, did more homework than any previous generation, volunteered in record numbers, and are civically oriented (proven by the record turnout in the recent election).  I also do not believe that I can completely avoid monotonous tasks at work, nor do I need to have work be fun all the time.  However, I do not accept a system that cannot change, whose rigidity insists that employees do things the same way as were done 50 or even 100 years ago.  We live in an era of constant change, and institutions must adapt because it is not only my goal to maximize my skills, knowledge, and learning, but to create the greatest ROI for my employer since their success will also lead to my own.

 

I am also a realist.  I can see that the drone work is being outsourced, and shipped to countries where 10-12 hours of monotonous work can be bought for pennies on the dollar.  Why would I want a job that has that risk of being outsourced?  And this is why I want a job where I can have fun because those kinds of jobs take thinking and do not get outsourced as easily. 

 

I am sure that some reading this post will be shaking their head at the word fun, first among them my dad.  However, my dad and most of the people from his generation define fun much differently than my generation.  To them fun is a mindless event like playing freeze tag, pick up basketball, fishing in the Pacific for yellow fin, whereas fun for me encompasses a much broader range of activities. It is an amorphous thing that I can only know when I see it, but I have found it in the following examples: examining a process from a new perspective, and taking down an old system and rebuilding something stronger in its place.  ‘Fun’ is the chance to develop disruptive ideas, to complete an unlikely challenge, to expect one result and find another.  The fun is the experience, the unknown, and the stretching of oneself not just physically, but mentally and emotionally.

 

When you really look at it, this definition of fun is what has made America so successful over the past two decades.  The ability to innovate new ideas, challenge the old way is what allows America to constantly reinvent itself.  Gen Y wants to take this process not just to the products we develop, but how we live as well.  This next generation entering the workplace operates much differently, and the current corporate structure has not adapted to the tools that they use.  This current corporate structure stifles the creativity of this generation because it doesn’t allow them to utilize/access their natural tendencies and talents.

 

If you look to some of the most successful companies over the past few years you will see a common thread: they were early adopters of the Millennial ideal: letting employees develop new ideas, encouraging innovation, and replacing rigidity for openness (especially to new ideas/methods).  These companies range from tech giants like Cisco to retailers like Best Buy, and when you compare them to failing companies like GM you can see stark contrasts in how they manage their people.  Study after study confirms that as workers become more engaged and satisfied with their lives inside and outside a company, the will increase their personal productivity and overall profitability to the company.  As such, companies that create ‘fun’ (using the Millennial definition) atmospheres and allow their employees to develop outside the workplace, accrue incredible benefits for minimal costs.

 

This is one of reasons why I think that this whole idea of Millennials and Gen Ys as an ‘entitled’ generation is a myth.  We want change because the old system does not work in the current environment.  Change is not easy, and there are always winners and losers when a dramatic shift occurs.  Parents, employers, and older workers should be supportive as we change not only this country, but transform the very way we work and interact.    I am not saying that everyone will be CEO or President of the United States, but I think Millennials will modify the workplace in such a way where it can actually be ‘fun.’  All you have to do is look at Zappos.com or how Cisco shifted from a hierarchical company to a more organic structure to see the benefits. 

 

I can tell you I have no desire after 40+ years of working, to receive a golden watch and know that I missed out on my own, my friends’, and my family’s growth over the years because I was stuck at my job watching life pass me by.

 

Another great post to check out is Why Generation Y Should Job-Hop, Even in the Recession by Rebecca Thorman over at Modite.  She has some great insights on changing jobs during a recession.

 

 

• Corporate Issues , Personal Life , Workplace
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