The truth about taking a dare.

I was visiting Jason Seiden's website recently, and he had written something that has become one of my favorite new sayings: Dare To Fail Spectacularly.

I think that line stuck with me so much, because I don't believe you can truly be successful right now by working for the establishment. I don't think it'll be like this forever. But right now it is.

William A. Draves and Julie Coates write in their ground-breaking book Nine Shift that what's happening now parallels what happened 100 years ago. Back then we were transitioning from the Agrarian Age into the Industrial Age - and now we are transitioning from the Industrial Age into the Information Age. And in the years 2008-2012 is when the turning point happens.

Therefore, if the establishment is in a transition, it's dysfunctional.

I've seen this up close and personal lately. My husband Jeff Kart - a nationally recognized environmental journalist - has had to make a choice recently. He had a "day job" at a newspaper (quite retro, I know) and he is writing for national news outlets like the Discovery networks' Planet Green and Treehugger sites (you can see his work here). But the demand for his work got so great that he had to choose where he wanted to work. So he chose Discovery networks.

It's a little scary to give up the "day job," because even though we're Gen Xers, we still grew up with a bit of the "company man" philosophy. But it's so clear that the future of news is not in paper, but online. However, most newspaper editors seem to forget that they're in the news business and not the paper business.

So Seiden's philosophy really hit home for me. I personally took the dare a few years ago - and now my life partner is on the same path. And I've never been happier.

What do you think? Have you ever taken the dare? What did it mean for you?

What WILL employment look like in the 21st Century?

I've been thinking a lot lately about what our employment will look like in the 21st Century. I am one of the fortunate few who not only have a job (with insurance) that I love - but I also am part of a staff of people that get along and respect each other at all levels of the organization. But my career hasn't always been this way.

I know so many people who have to work for really bad bosses. And I think that's the problem. People don't leave bad jobs, they leave bad bosses. Which makes me think - wouldn't it be better for a lot of people to just become independent consultants?

Even though I do have a full-time job, I telecommute. I really do work on my own terms - when I want, where I want, listening to the Rachael Ray Show, if I want. If I still worked at my old job, my bosses would probably be annoyed that I spend my first couple hours of the day working in my pajamas (they frowned upon it when you didn't get dressed for work.)

I guess I just wonder how long people are going to put up with the corporate life. Or maybe I'm completely wrong. It wouldn't be the first time that my thoughts on a issue weren't mainstream.

What do you think? If you could be your own boss - would you? And if you would, but aren't, why?

Does fairness even exist?

I've been giving some thought today to the idea of "fairness." I started thinking about it when someone responded to something online with "In all fairness, I should be able to respond." I couldn't help but think - tough, life's not fair.

I think a lot of Xers don't believe in fairness. It's not that fairness is a bad thing - it's just not something that happens a lot. Other generations, at least to me, seem to expect fairness more than we do.

So I thought I'd get your input. How do you feel about fairness?

Tamara Erickson is a Boomer who "gets it"

I recently had the opportunity to review Tamara Erickson's latest work on generational issues - What's Next, Gen X? As a longtime fan of Erickson's, I was really excited to read this.

I know there are not a lot of people who want to read about Gen X anymore - unless it's something really negative like how we will die in squalor waiting for the Boomers to retire. However, Erickson - who is a Boomer - argues just the opposite. She writes that "the way businesses create value is changing, essentially in ways that are more closely aligned with X'er preferences and sensibilities."

These ways include Xer's putting less emphasis on being told what you should believe and more emphasis on transparency.

One way Erickson really keys in to the Gen X perspective is her discussion of the way Gen Xers form "tribes" - and how that is one of our defining strengths. We've always known that Xers are fiercely loyal to their friends - Erickson shows how that's impacting our adult professional lives, too.

I was also impressed that Erickson was not afraid to call us out for simply walking away from professional situations when we're pissed off - and not explaining why. I agree that there are times that if we did a little more talking - and less walking - we may able to resolve situations quicker.

As far as downsides, I think Erickson doesn't offer enough concrete new advice as to HOW Xers can take our strengths and make them work for us. I would have like to have seen more case studies and quotes from successful Xers who are making it work - and less from Xers who are complaining.

But overall - I loved this book and would recommend. Don't let Erickson's Boomer status scare you off - she "gets it."

The Cobra Kai are just not good enough for the new Millennium

My kids and I have a hard time finding movies we all like. So I try to introduce them to films I love that I think they will love too (because if I watch one more episode of Sponge Bob, I'm going to lose it).

So here are their ratings:

1) Sound of Music - thumbs up
2) Splash - thumbs up
3) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - thumbs way, way down
4) The Karate Kid - huge thumbs up (had to smile in the final fight scene when my older daughter asked me "Do you think Daniel will win?" )

However, since the original Karate Kid was just not flashy enough - and the Cobra Kai just not menacing enough - it needs to be remade.

So what do you think about this one? And what do think will be the next remake - maybe Miley Cyrus in "Pretty in Pink" with Billy Ray as the drunk dad? (Nah, he couldn't be drunk these days. Probably just sad. But I'm sure Miley will run around in a pink tube top instead of quirky pink sweaters.)



If you're a regular reader, you know already know how I feel about these things. But what the heck, maybe this time someone can convince me that "new" is "improved" - and we should forget the 80s.

Gen Xers - Take my poll!

My last blog post was about whether things are really so dire for Gen Xers. We hear a lot in the media about the poor Gen Xers who are stuck and the Millennials are nipping at our tails. I'm just not buying it.

This is not a slam on Millennials. It has nothing to do with them, really. But I just don't think they are going to pass us up - and I really don't think they're doing it right now. The reason is - I don't know and haven't met a single Xer who this has happened to. I hear Xers say it's happening - but they have no personal experience of it. It reminds me of the urban myth of the woman who fell asleep in the tanning bed and fried her internal organs. It's always someone's aunt who knows someone this happened to.

In the past they said Xers would not ever own their own homes. Yet we do. They said we'd never make more money that their parents. Everyone I know does. They said lots of bad stuff that never ended up happening.

Penelope Trunk, who loves Millennials more than any Xer in the world, said that history will mark Gen Xers the real revolutionaries of this era. She also says nobody wants to read about Gen X. I would add - people like to read about the doom and gloom of the Gen X experience - they just don't want to hear a lot of good stuff.

So I thought I'd take a poll. If you are an Xer, please answer honestly. If you answer yes, please tell us about it in the comment section. If you're not an Xer, please feel free to leave a comment, but please don't take the poll.

Are Xers being sold a bill of goods?

There's a lot of negative stuff about Gen X on the web. It says we're small. It says we're sandwiched between the Boomers and the Millennials. It says we're the Jan Brady of Generations.

My question is - is it really true?

I've had my share of tough times. However, at 38 (almost 39), I have a great job, a great family, a great house, and I live in a great small town. It got me thinking - is the media out to "get" us?

It's true that our generation is smaller. However, although we're only 20% of the population, we're 42% of the workforce (see chart above). That's the largest chunk of any generation working today.

Also, the median age of CEOs in this country is getting lower. Today it's 48.8 years old (45.7 years old for those working for IT companies). The oldest Xers (if you don't count Generation Jones, which I do, but I'm not counting them here) is 44. Well, if half the CEOs are under 48.8 - most of that half are Xers.

It's true, we had it rough starting out. But is it really that dismal for us? Does the data back it up?

I'm curious what you all think.