Up Next for Millennials: Coming of Age, Losing the Hype, and Being Better for It

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Howe and Strauss, authors of Millennials Rising [2], predict that based on generational trends, the Millennial generation’s “complete breakout” will be around 2010. We should be hitting our peak right now, really coming into our own, and attracting a lot of attention for it. And I think, in many cases, we are. Many of the conferences and affinity groups in our sector are starting to provide significant roles and development opportunities for the “next generation,” our generation’s role in the 2008 election is still being analyzed by experts, and let’s not forget the hubbub created around the Morgan Stanley superintern’s report about How Teenagers Consume Media [3].

Next, however, will come the ebbing of public interest, when people are tired of hearing about who we are as a generation, what we care about and how we are different from those who have gone before. Based on the cycles of previous generations, Howe and Strauss say this should happen in the oh-teens, although it’s possible that social media will speed up that timeline a bit. Then what will we do with ourselves??

This reminds me of a post I read last year by Len Kendall [4] about why he stopped writing about being a Millennial and why he advises others to do so as well. Len practically begs Millennials to distinguish themselves as something great, regardless of age and to resist the urge to use the gimmick of being young, while we can. Yes, there is another generation behind us. Yes, they’ll start getting more attention than us in a few years. They will be the new twenty-somethings with great ideas and new ways of doing things, and we may, for a moment, feel like the forgotten middle child.

Rather than exploring how I am personally distinguishing myself beyond my youth or how this blog is going to stay relevant when the next generation is the hot topic, I’m concerned with how our generation is going to continue to be relevant, influential and impactful. Our true relevance isn't based on youth. As we’ve discussed before, social citizens can be any age, but the Millennial generation has defined the social citizen. Millennials’ relevance is now, and will continue to be, based on our unique way of looking at problems and shaping our society. And rather than lamenting our generation's inevitable fade from the list of hot topics, I’m frankly looking forward to being a person with a unique way of meeting a challenge and not a YOUNG person with a unique way of meeting a challenge. We don’t need youth as a novelty to gain a seat at the table.

Just as Boomers continue to be relevant, we will stay relevant as we come of age. We will always be Millennials. As the buzz around our generation is dying, we will also begin taking the reins in business, politics, government, media and nonprofit work. I get all tingly dreaming about some of the ways the characteristics that make us Millennials will continue to impact all aspects of our society.

We prefer partnership to hierarchy. Will we improve the way that our organizations, and even governing bodies, work by releasing more control, collaborating more than we are competing and eliminating careful bureaucracy? How will we treat the generation entering the workplace behind us, and how will that spur innovation?

We blend the sectors and structures. As is already being demonstrated with our affinity for social enterprise and cross-sector partnerships, we connect our values and causes to our jobs and our shopping habits, and we reject the belief that doing good is the responsibility of just one sector. As our buying power increases, will we force business, more broadly, to make more environmentally and socially responsible decisions? Will we demand that nonprofits function more like businesses? Will models like TOMS Shoes [5] replace business models that are purely profit-driven? What will the new standards be for Corporate Social Responsibility?

We value transparency. With online personas created by all of our blogging, facebooking, and tweeting, it’s nearly impossible for individuals to set a hard line between professional and personal and for organizations to limit the information circulating about them to what comes out of their communications shop. Will our standards be compromised as we knock down the walls between our personal and professional lives? Or will we set new standards for transparency and openness?

We are globally aware, globally connected and globally concerned. The effects of globalization and technology have helped us to realize that it IS a small world after all. Will our increased concern, connection, and sense of responsibility regarding our neighbors in other countries and cultures make a significant impact on their lives? Will our institutions be more active and quick in preventing genocide, oppression, and other injustice around the world? Will we be more peaceful?

We are idealistic and optimistic. Having rejected the cynicism of the generation before us, we are convinced that change is possible and that we can make a difference. Will this lead us to try outrageous things that others haven’t? Will it increase our willingness to put trust in each other and institutions to do the right thing?