Not Everyone Gets A Trophy: How To Manage Generation Y (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
A more satisfying read for me than the Trophy Kids (about the Millenial generation). The ideas of managing a generation that is very technologically savvy are similar, but this one had more concrete suggestions.Not being a part of this generation, I found a few items from the book that gave me serious food for thought: (p. 50) "As one Gen Yer put it: 'Gotta Keep Learning. Gotta keep moving. All the stuff you've forgottten, I'll never have to know. Half the stuff you remember, I'll never have to know. That just means I'm way past halfway to catching up to you. It's the obsolescence curve getting steeper and steeper. It makes it a whole lot easier for a guy my age to catch up to the more experienced people." This is something I've believed before even seeing it in writing, but not being able to effectively convey this message to younger generations was one reason I was frustrated when I taught interns: (p. 120) "Rigourous self-evaluation is not just a key component of learning good judgment. It is the beginning, middle and end of self-management. It is the essential habit of self-imporvement. If you teach Gen Yers one thing, teach them to make a commitment to constant, rigorous self-evaluation. Teach them to assess their use of time, the productivity and quality of their work, and their behavior."This book gives some specific questions for guiding this generation towards self-evaluation. I found this very helpful.(p 140) "You must have a way to monitor and measure their performance on a regular basis...One of the best approaches I've seen to the challenge of monitoring Gen Yers' performance is making them responsible for keeping track of their own performance. Give Gen Yers tools like project plans, work diaries, and checklists. Ask them to keep track of their own work in writing and report to you on a regular basis." There are other tools in the chapter of Teach Them How to be Managed by You, and each of them can help address that work ethic, habits and style are often less developed in younger workers and this is a tangible way that both the employer and employee can see improvements. Writing is a powerful tool for finding success and in this case, bringing old-school and new-tech generations more in synch. OK, first, this book wins the Best Title Ever Award hands down.Also, so THAT's why the damn kids are so obnoxious these days, with their flipflops and their texting! *waves cane around*Although this book is written for people who manage other people in a work setting, I find the insights useful for surviving amid the swarms of 20-ish-year-olds on the college campuses that make up my immediate day-to-day environment.
What do You think about Not Everyone Gets A Trophy: How To Manage Generation Y (2009)?
Avoid the audio version. The reader sounds like a movie voice over actor the entire time.
—jessey
Lukewarm, Listless and Lethargic! Leave this one all alone!
—belitta
