To work with the millennials in college classrooms today is to understand them.
In his book How Will Millennials Manage? author and Harvard Business School professor (emeritus) James Heskett says that for leaders of the future to succeed they “must have great respect for human value, in-depth knowledge of human intuition and, most of all, the guts to act independently without prejudice to the extent of sacrificing one’s own pursuit.” In other words, we must embrace change. It will take a real understanding of the I.P.O.D. generation.
Who are these I.P.O.D.ers? They are a growing yet significant population that is Internet savvy, Phone-addicted, Opportunistic and Digitally conscious. They arrived after the consciousness revolution between 1982 and 2000 and were the spark that ignited all those “Baby on Board” signs you see hanging in the rear windows of cars across the country. Today, there are 115 million I.P.O.D.ers, the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in American history. They are also one of the most pampered and dependent. The majority stay connected with their parents by living at home after college. And 73 percent remain dependent by requiring some financial assistance from Mom and Dad in order “to survive.”
I.P.O.D.ers have a variety of extra limbs. Hanging from various appendages you will find their traveling companions: the iPod, BlackBerry or laptop. Since the I-Generation is the first generation raised exclusively by computers, all these things move at breakneck speed, whether it is their fingers text messaging or their work on a project. Technology is their oxygen and they expect things to move fast and as easy as it takes to draw breath. Through it all, they seek the immediate gratification of making an impact by doing meaningful work.
Emotionally, life continues to shape this generation by throwing it curves. From the horrors of Sept. 11 and the limitless possibilities of digital technology, members of the I-Generation have seen the worst and the best the world has to offer in a very short time. These experiences have allowed them to develop global attitudes with both a confidence and optimism not experienced by their parents, yet they remain dedicated to important causes ranging from civic to environmental. They are innovative, self-reliant and team-oriented, and they are fast-tracked and sensitive. Their attention shelf life is short because of their tendency to call it quits if they feel misunderstood or unappreciated. Internally suspended is their desire to be rewarded for changing things instead of maintaining the status quo and their focus on their own personal development.
