The Weaknesses 1. Because they are so solution focused and technologically savvy, they have a tendency to think the ends justify the means. They will often take the path of least resistance and/or cheat to win. With Xers it was uncool to take the easy path (and I think with Boomers too) but Millennials unabashedly will do the bare minimum, cheat their asses off, or draft off of other’s efforts without any sense that they’re doing wrong in order to get the box checked. We’ve trained this generation to execute, get that box checked, but without thinking much about the path to get there or the consequences. “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game!” has become a quaint sentiment. Breaking bad is cool and rules are for suckers. 2. They are terrified of conflict and tend to compromise their values for the sake of team/group harmony. Because I teach in a business college, I run a lot of team exercises and almost never see someone stick their neck out and go against their team. These are really creative, bright students who get suckered into bulls*#t projects just because they’re afraid of making waves. In other words, group think runs rampant with this generation. 3. They trust systems to a fault. The thing about Xers is that the systems were broken… Schools were failing, priests were molesting, parents were absent and there were no functioning summer or soccer camps. (The 80’s were horrific for children when you think about it.) For Millennials, it’s just the opposite. Everything has worked for them and they can’t even begin to envision a world where the system is not your friend; they are the system. What happens when that system starts telling them that poverty is a crime and indentured servitude is a solution? 4. Some of them have been infected with that horrible virus known as “nostalgia” which wiped out the most creative minds of Boomers and Xers. If you’re under 35, you should not be talking about Neil Young. At all. Millennials need to find and/or make their own amazing music. I was at a bar a few months ago and witnessed a 90′s “Tribute” Band. These are 22 yo’s already infected with nostalgia. I kid my students about their awful taste in music, the 00’s was the worst decade for music in American History, but great bands are out there now… yes Grimes and Tame Impala I’m looking at you. My deepest wish is for this generation to fall in love with the Future and make it so, but the cynical part of me believes that denim is holding us back… why are we still wearing denim?
The Challenges Within 1, Porn & Sexual Liberation — I’m a hopeless romantic when it comes to love and I believe in the institution of marriage (gay, straight, doesn’t matter.) I seriously worry about the death of love and commitment in this generation. If it’s the expectation to have sex casually and early in a relationship, it takes away the art of seduction and the power of deeper emotional bonds that come from long term, committed relationships. Sex is great, don’t get me wrong, and it’s a step in the right direction to un-fuse sex and love, but who speaks for love in this generation? Who speaks for the hardship and terrible beauty of commitment?