The Dumbest Statement About Generation Y in 2009

I was going to spend the day writing about the 10 dumbest things said about Generation Y in 2009, but there is one that deserves attention…So, in my opinion, the dumbest thing said about Generation Y in 2009 is this:

“Generation Y is the dumbest generation we have seen in the history of mankind.”

Whoever came up with this notion are the people who deserves the dumb award of 2009.

One of the funniest things I read on this topic was some study which showed that in 2006 (okay…it’s 3 years old) revealed that two thirds of high school seniors couldn’t explain an old photo of a sign over a theater door reading the words “COLORED ENTRANCE”.   Isn’t this ironic?  People from the Baby Boomer generation who publicly displayed acts of discrimination by demanding colored entrances to theaters, forcing black people to sit in the back of the bus or drink from a different water fountain are calling Generation Y dumb, because they don’t know the meaning of COLORED ENTRANCE!  Thank God, here in 2009, that this Generation does not know the meaning of these words.

I am sure that many of you are out there today saying “Gen Y is dumb…they need to know the meaning of these signs and of World Wars I and II and the history of Sputnik, blah, blah…they sit and text and live on Facebook all day and use words like ‘chill, word and dank’ and they all have ADD, because they are all multi-tasking maniacs.  They don’t know who Chopin is, and they never knew that Pete Rose played baseball”.

Okay…I get it.  But why are we all so hung up on people knowing about trivia from history?  I completely understand knowing history, but here’s the deal…Gen Y knows how to go to their information sources and quickly learn more than I bet most of us know about Pete Rose, Chopin or the Cold War.  They know how to tap into a network of thousands of people to get answers more quickly and they don’t waste time laboring over useless details that have no meaning.  They can filter out what they need to be successful in the moment so that they can move on and spend time with friends and family.  Are we really here on earth to know each detail of each event in history?  Not so sure that’s why we’re here (but you history majors can just go ahead and throw some rocks at me!)

There are also a few things that we all need to know about Gen Y:

1. 20 of the most celebrated entrepreneurs of 2009 are under the age of 30

2. Generation Y can quickly explain anything related to new media including web 2.0, convergence, wiki, microblogging, crowdsourcing, RSS and social bookmarking while many people are still using text burdened ppt slides that put people to sleep.  Take a look at these icons….do you know what these are?  If not, you’re behind the times!  Gen Y can tell you what each of these are and another 100 or so social networking icons, and they are not just for playing around!  They are being used for business, education and recruitment.

And…on a side note, I led two presentations this past year when I asked an audience of Baby Boomers how many of them were blogging, and the audience said “What is a blog?”

3. Does Gen Y multi-task?  You bet they can!  Because they have to.  Yes…I know about all the studies that say that multi-tasking is horrible and causes problems and is inefficient, and causes the ability to learn to go down, but did you also know that multi-tasking can be great in the working world?  Gen Y is proficient at neatly compartmentalizing the multitude of “stuff” in their brains and is able to pluck out easily what they need in the moment.  Older generations hold onto about 10 things at one time, so they seem to be constantly at war in their brains…arguing not only with the world but with their own beliefs and thoughts.

I could go on and on, but at the end of the day, this belief is only one perspective…it is not THE truth…it is someone’s view or belief, and we all have beliefs and opinions.  My opinion is that this statement about Gen Y being the dumbest Generation in history is just dumb.  My perspective is this…Generation Y is one of the brightest, most capable, intellectually stimulated generations we have seen in history.  Over the last three years, I feel as if I have become “smarter” (or dumber as many of you would say) because of knowing so many young leaders.  I also have 3 Gen Y kids who have taught me a great deal about life, spirituality, cultures other than my own, about the world and about how they plan on helping our world be a better place.

Our world needs to change in 2010…and for starters, I believe that our education system has to get up with the times.  Writing on a chalkboard and lecturing to a group of tech savvy learners is no longer working…so what you thought was important 20 years ago may not be that relevant today.  It’s time to start shifting, and I want to apologize to Generation Y for all of the adults who are calling you dumb, lazy and entitled and for handing you so many problems to deal with in the future.  And…I want to thank you for your innovative spirit and for actually speaking up for what you want and what you feel our world needs to do to be a better place to live.

And to Baby Boomers, Traditionalists and Gen X…thank-you for your wisdom…now it’s time to share, mentor and coach instead of calling Gen Y dumb, lazy and narcissistic.  If that is how you view them, they did not get there alone.  They got there with a great deal of help from the rest of us!

Wishing you all the best in 2010.

Bea