A new book numbers the new generation that follows the older Xers and the Baby Boomers at 90 million. They represent what we’ve called the Millennial generation, plus a large proportion of the younger Xers.
There are more members of this new generation than there are Baby Boomers. Some 56 million of them are old enough to be in the workforce, and to be employees, managers, and even executives. As a generational cohort, they behave differently than anything we’ve seen: They learn differently, and they want different things. They are going to shape the future, but they are going to do it their own way.
The men and women of this generation present a challenge and an opportunity for managers. They have skills and attitudes that no other generation possessed in the same quantity and quality. They have expertise, drive, and confidence. Among the many things that define them and make them different from other generations is that they have less patience and see fewer obstacles in their way.
And what has made them the way they are? The overriding common factor seems to be that they’ve grown up playing video games.
What are some of the ways this generation is making an impact? For one, it’s harder to get their attention in traditional ways. Television broadcast networks have been losing viewers for years. We can blame the remote control, the myriad options offered by cable and satellite systems, and the Internet. Nielsen Media Research last fall found that young males — the target audience most coveted by advertisers — watched 12 percent less prime-time TV than the year before.
In a recent article in Wired, David Raines, who determines Coca-Cola’s advertising spending, said, “It’s not that men 18 to 34 have stopped watching TV, but they’re doing a lot of other stuff, too.” They’re watching DVDs, surfing the Net, and playing video games. And so, that’s where ad dollars will go to get their attention. Hence, the trend of buying “product placement” in video games and movies. But there’s a fundamental difference in the way young men of this generation perceive things versus the rest of us.
Jim Lentz of Toyota USA sums it up this way: “This younger generation has a filter mechanism. They can be doing their homework, listening to music,...
