GenerationXpert in Wisconsin

GenerationXpert Suzanne Kart will facilitate a 1-day seminar Thursday in Neenah, Wisconsin on the topic of lifelong learning.

Ten Valedictorians and trophies for everyone: Why Millenials have a hard time sucking it up and moving on

When I was a kid I saw the movie Top Gun. There is a line in the film that has always stuck with me: There are no points for second place.

I think this is something that Boomers and Xers understand pretty well. That’s what we grew up with. Competition. There is only one winner.

In the workforce, that’s something you need to understand if you want to succeed. Otherwise, each time you aren’t the “winner” (the award winner, the one who is promoted, the one recognized at the meeting), it will eat at you. This is something Millenials struggle with.

A lot of writers misinterpret this fact. In fact, Millenials are often called narcissistic. I don’t think they’re narcissistic. I just think that they don’t always "get" that there is just one winner. They grew up their whole life all being “winners.” Everyone gets a trophy at the end of the season. And 10 people get to call themselves valedictorian.

I think the parents of Millenials did a good job of instilling self-esteem. However, they now need to learn that all results are not equal. And there are people who are better than you are. If you want to be the best, you need to be BETTER than everyone else – not just as good.

GenerationXpert on Public Television

I was on air Wednesday night on Delta College Quality Public Television co-hosting the Winter Pledge Drive with Q-90.1 Programming Manager Howard Shaper. That's me in the center and Howard above me.

Why I need to retire early

I have been thinking about my preschool child recently and her ability to use the computer. My first grader also liked the computer from a time that she could barely talk - and couldn't use the potty at all. For both of them, once they learned to use the mouse, they were good-to-go and could learn just about any game on NickJr.com.

I, however, did not grow up with computer games, really. We had Atari, but only about 3 games (my Babyboomer parents really couldn't see the point in paying $20 for new games, but that's a whole other story). Our games, however, were not educational. Or if they were, they were not fun.

Fast forward 30 years and I am trying to learn database software. It's really not sinking in and I have to write all the directions down for any little thing I need to do. It's frustrating, because I'm used to things coming relatively easy for me.

I imagine that 20 years from now, when my kids enter the workforce, I will be a dinosaur. Because they can learn so much now from their computer games, there brains will just be hard-wired differently and they will be able to "get it" easier and quicker. Instead of facilitating seminars on what the future looks like for marketing - I will be conducting lectures for history buffs who are fascinating that there were people born before cable television existed.

I imagine that I will be the equivalent to today's grandma who keeps breaking the remote control and refuses to give up her rotary phone.

"Back in my day, we didn't have those fancy-shmancy video games. All we had were Barbies and Stars Wars figurines."

Gen Xers - it pays to be the small generation

A recent study from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College argues that the size of "one’s birth cohort affects wages throughout one’s working life, with members of relatively large cohorts (at all stages of their careers) earning a significantly lower wage than members of smaller cohorts."

A lot of Gen Xers worry that we'll get passed over in the work world either by Boomers who stay in the workforce longer than previous generations or by Millenials who are nipping at our ankles as we climb the corporate ladder. However, this study says that the smaller the generation, the larger the wage. And Generation X is the smallest. Rock on Gen Xers!

Are we short changing Millenial students?

As an undergraduate in the early 1990s, I learned how to research in a library. We had to take a research class. That was partly due to the Internet not being what it is today - and partly because that's what you do in college (go to the library).

Apparently, today's students are still going to the library - in fact Millenials go to the library twice as much as older adults. However, although today's college students do a great deal of their research online, they are not being taught proper research techniques. In fact, as Millenials, they are expected to just know how to research on the web simply because they grew up with computers.

I think we do a lot of complaining about young adults these days. Especially when they can't seem to do things we as Boomers and Xers think are basic skills (like research). But who is to blame here? How many Millenials are professors or college adminstrators?

I may be old, but I'm still cool

For years now, I've been telling people that Gen Xers really don't have age issues like Babyboomers. Seriously, Boomers freak out about aging.

However, Xers cannot stand the idea of no longer being "cool." And now a Gen Xer has written a book to prove it! He's a dad who seems to have a sense of humor about himself and is striving to maintain his coolness.

Why does this matter? If you look at it from a marketing perspective, this is a fact that you could use to gain the Gen X consumer. Drink this pop, it makes you cool. Drive this modified SUV, it's big like a minivan, but it's cooler. Wear these gel insoles - they will make you the coolest!