Five Common Gen Y Myths Busted

When I first started writing this blog, I didn’t know a whole lot about Generation Y, even though I’m a member of it. But that didn’t deter me from writing about it. 

As a quintessential Generation Yer, when I need information about something, I turn to the Internet. And so I did. And it was there that I came across Generation Y expert, Bruce Tulgan. 

Tulgan is the founder of RainmakerThinking, co-author of Managing Generation Y, and author of It’s Ok To Be The Boss and Not Everyone Gets A Trophy, which comes out in January.

I was lucky enough to have Tulgan agree to let me interview him on this important topic. 

He says there are lots of myths regarding this up-and-coming generation, but there are five that are the most common. He debunks these myths for us: 

Myth: Gen Yers want weak bosses
Reality: “If they care one wit about the job, they want managers who know who they are, know what they are doing, are highly engaged with them, provide guidance, help them solve problems, and keep close track of their successes,” Tulgan says. 

Myth: They have short attention spans and don’t know very much
Reality:  “They may not have the same kind of shared knowledge base that people with a certain level of education used to take for granted, but they walk in the door with more information in their heads and more information available at their fingertips that anyone ever has,” he says. “They think, learn and communicate in sync with today’s information environment.” 

Myth: They want the top job on day one
Reality: “They have no interest in getting up to speed slowly or taking their time to ‘get a feel for the place,’” he says. “They want to hit the ground running on day one. They want to identify problems that nobody else has identified; solve problems that nobody else has solved; make existing things better; invent new things.” 

Myth: They only want to learn from computers
Reality: “They absolutely need the human element to do their best learning,” he says. “They learn best from a combination of the human element—coaching, directing, guiding, supporting, sharing wisdom—along with the powerful capacity of menu-driven information systems to guide them through the incredible tidal wave of information available at their fingertips.” 

Myth: It’s impossible to turn them into long-term employees
Reality: “You can turn them into long-term employees,” he says. “You’ll just have to do it one day at a time.”

When I first started writing this blog, I didn’t know a whole lot about Generation Y, even though I’m a member of it. But that didn’t deter me from writing about it.