GenXpectations

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GenXpectations

• Slackers,
• Grumpies,
• Or Allies in Change?

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GenXpectations

• Dr. Dan Vicker Sr. Management Trainer
• Certified Public Managers Program
• The Florida State University
• 850-644-2148
• drv8897_at_garnet.acns.fsu.edu
• http//garnet.acns.fsu.edu/drv8897

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GenXpectations

• WARNING You cannot use this information as a way
  to understand any one individual!!
• This is not an attempt to stereotype people, but
  rather, a way to understand the point in which we
  teeter in time with regard to change!

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Theme Change, Challenge, and
Response We have change, it presents us
with a challenge, and what will be our
response? Think of this theme throughout this
session.  
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Drawing the X generation line In terms of age
cohorts

• some say Generation X includes those born between
  1960 and 1980,
• some say it includes those born between 1965 and
  1979,
• and yet others say it includes those born between
  1968 and now.
• I prefer to look at Generation Xers as those born
  between 1960 and about 1980.

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Values seem to be one demarcation of Generation X.

• This generation grew up watching grass roots
  social change. The Vietnam war, the Civil Rights
  Movement, and the Counter Culture taught them to
  be skeptical and to distrust big government.
  They witnessed Watergate, Nixons resignation,
  the Iran Contra affair, the savings and loan
  scandal, Travelgate, Whitewater, Star
  Investigation, and Clintons impeachment.
• Authority must be questioned in the minds of this
  generation.

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FROM THE ABOVE MENTIONED EVENTS, THIS GENERATION
LEARNED

• TO QUESTION AUTHORITY.

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Television is another demarcation of generation X.

• For those early in the Gen-X age cohort,
  television was just coming of age when they began
  to watch.
• There were sitcoms and dramas
• There were educational shows
• There were comedy hours
• There were news shows

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Sitcoms/Dramas

• Brady Bunch, Welcome Back Kotter, The Mod Squad,
  Room 222, All In The Family, A Family Affair,
  Good Times, Happy Days, The Jeffersons, Charlie's
  Angels, I Dream of Jeannie, Its About Time, My
  Favorite Martian, Bewitched, Manix, The Streets
  of San Francisco, Kojak, Gilligan's Island, The
  Partridge Family, The Adams Family, Lassie, The
  Big Valley, Bonanza, Emergency, Barnaby Jones,
  Sanford and Son, Starsky and Hutch, and The Night
  Stalker.

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The Educational Show

• ZOOM, The Electric Company, School House Rock,
  ABC Afternoon School Special, Sesame Street, Mr.
  Roger's Neighborhood, Captain Kangaroo, The New
  Zoo Review, The Wild Kingdom, National
  Geographic, The Undersea World of Jacques
  Cousteau, Marty Stouffers Wildlife Show,
  Disneys Documentaries

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The Comedy Hour

• The Donny And Marie Show, Laugh-In, The Jackson
  Five, Love American Style, Sonny and Cher, John
  Denver, Tony Orlando and Dawn, The Carol Burnet
  Show, He Haw, The Muppet Show, Saturday Night
  Live, The Bob Hope Show, Flip Wilson, Ed Sullivan
  Show

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FROM THESE SHOWS, THIS GENERATION LEARNED

• ALL OF LIFE'S SERIOUS PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED IN A
  HALF HOUR WITH TIME FOR COMMERCIAL BREAKS.

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The innovation of the personal computer is a
third demarcation.

• The TRS-80, PONG, Atari, IBM 8088. The release of
  Word Star, and then Word Perfect, began the
  explosion of the PC in our lives. Year after
  Year and Month after Month, software drove
  hardware out of existence. Computers were
  obsolete after you purchased one, far sooner than
  they are obsolete today.

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Computers and Change

• First, there was the 10 meg hd, then 20 (286),
  then 40, then 80 (386), then 100, then 200(486),
  then 250, then 500(Pentium), and on until now the
  typical computer can have about 17gigs of hd
  space(Pentium III). The amount of change this
  age cohort has seen with regard to computing is
  absolutely phenomenal.

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FROM THE COMPUTER EVOLUTION, THIS GENERATION
LEARNED

• INSTANT GRATIFICATION AND
• ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE WITH A COMPUTER.

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Remember Instant Gratification?

• This was a term in the 70's that described the
  attitude of the overindulged teenager. The Very
  Early Baby Boomers and their parents wanted their
  children to have it better than they did.
  Ironically, they created "Instant Gratification"
  in the Gen-X population. Instant Gratification
  stereo-typed the Gen-Xers as wanting everything
  now without working for it. "You gotta go to
  college and get a good job." College meant
  INFORMATION!

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"Instant Gratification" got us

• Super speed computing of words and numbers, up to
  date real time information, 24 hour news, 24 hour
  weather, ATM, Faxes, E-mail, on-line access to
  accounts of all kinds, on-line shopping,
  overnight delivery, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING YOU
  WANT TO KNOW ON-LINE AT ALMOST THE SPEED OF
  LIGHT!!! Try- Almost instant overnight
  millionaires like Steven Dell, Pierre Omidyar,
  Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and many others - names
  unknown.

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How is "Instant Gratification" and the Internet
changing your work?
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To Sum It Up So Far

• The Generation called X questions authority,
  welcomes change, and loves what instant things
  technology can do!!!!

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Todays Leaders Face Change

• The age cohort in control today of many of our
  government institutions are of the generation
  before the Baby Boomers and The Baby Boomers
  themselves. They are faced with more change than
  any generation before them. The problem is that
  the change has not come gradually, it has come at
  such a quick pace that its passing our leader's
  ability to respond.

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NETGOV gives these Statistics

• 1999, 1.45 billion web pages were on-line.
• 2002, 7.7 billion web pages will be on-line.  
• 1994, 5.8 million US households were on-line.
• 1999, 38.8 million US households were on-line.
• 2003, 60 million US households will be on-line.
• 1998, there were 30 million on-line servers.
• Today there are 60 million on-line servers.
• 60 of the servers worldwide are in the US.

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A statement about change

• "It took 38 years for the telephone to reach 30
  of U.S. households.
• Television took 17 years to reach 30 of U.S.
  households.
• Personal computers took 13 years to reach 30 of
  U.S. households.
• It has taken less than 7 years for the World Wide
  Web to reach 30 of U.S. households."
• PLEASE NOTE THAT AT THE SAME TIME THESE
  TECHNOLOGIES ARE REACHING THE 30 LEVEL, THE RAW
  NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS ARE ALSO INCREASING!!!!

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More Statistics

• A group called EMarketer says that in 1999
  consumers will have spent 64.6 billion dollars
  online.
• Forrester Research says that 13 million consumers
  will make purchases in 1999.
• The remarkable thing about an electronic online
  store is that it is open 24-7-365! (IG?)

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With regard to questioning authority

• When you got numbers, they speak for themselves.
• Numbers can take the GUT out of the traditional
  decision making process if we only let them.
• Questioning authority can become less needed when
  everything is known.
• Information is one of the great equalizers.
  That's why we have government in the sunshine!!
• GEN Xers may love information.

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With regard to television and change

• When you want things now and you welcome change,
  the status quo seems unimportant.
• The time frame for change has a smaller window
  for those who welcome it.
• Change IS now our only constant.
• The proliferation of educational, and learning
  type TV shows is in reaction information needs.
• GEN Xers may welcome change.

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With regard to PCs and instant gratification

• We barely use a PC to its potential.
• We can get instant information on most
  professions.
• We can instantly view locations around the world.
  
• We can instantly search billions of web pages.
• We can get instant quotes of our stocks.
• We can get instant information on organizations.
• We can get almost instant online approval for a
  mortgage.
• GEN Xers may assist an organization's
  implementation of new technology now!

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• We must make change based on what we find from
  the data on which we measure outcomes. If we
  improve, by definition we must make change. The
  next piece of the puzzle generation X will bring
  to the table is the ability to be uncomfortable
  when change is not taking place. Change is
  expected by this generation. They create it.
  Look at how some of them live, with mom this
  week, dad the next, and the grandparents after
  that. Mobilization, Internet, Cell phones,
  Fashion, Computers, and Web TV. ITS MIND
  BOGGLING.

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• Look at their sports. BMX-freestyle-obstacle-and-m
  ountain biking, street luge, snow boarding, skate
  boarding, rock climbing, and sky surfing. All
  these games are in a state of evolution and most
  are less than twenty years old. ESPN now
  regularly covers the X-Games. What about this
  generation's choice of boats? The Sea Doo, Wave
  Runner, Jet Ski. The standard speed of today's
  wave runner is 60 mph and has no room for a
  paddle. Things are changing faster than ever
  before and if you aren't participating in change
  then you are slowing it down.

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• Claire Raines,
• Narrator of "The X Factor",
• Says these things about GEN X

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• They are the most diverse generation produced in
  the US to date. One out of every 3 are
  minorities.
• You better have an answer for them when they ask
  you "What's in it for me?"
• She says they have a loose profile of
• They are good at change
• They like technology and are comfortable with it
• They are independent and don't need validation
• They are not intimidated by authority
• They are creative

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A successful climate for GEN X

• Appreciate them and recognize them
• Be flexible, as they want a life out of work
• Create teams for them in which to work
• Develop them
• Involve them in decisions
• Lighten up, as they like to have fun at work
• And Walk your Talk - model behavior

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The Nutshell Summary

• The Generation called X is your biggest ally in
  gathering information, measuring performance,
  making change, and in getting it done now!
• TQM, PB2, Strategic Planning, Continuous
  Improvement are all natural activities for this
  generation.
• Include them by providing opportunities to own
  their processes and empower them to make change.

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• Each year the staff at Beloit College in
  Wisconsin puts together a list to try to give the
  faculty a sense of the mindset of that year's
  incoming freshmen.
• And The List PLEASE!!!

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I Want Answers

• So!!!! I've outlined the change!
• You know the challenge.
• What will be your response???