Transcript

Why Gen Z don’t exist – at least not the way you think. | Thomas Erikson | TEDxAthens

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtw38kDUaJ4
Video ID: Mtw38kDUaJ4
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Transcriber: Francesca Desario Reviewer: Elisabeth Buffard When my mother was a little girl, she lived in a small village, just 6 or 700 people. Just across the street. they had this grocery store that had been there forever. They had everything there: bread, buttermilk, but also candy, light bulbs, matches, everything. She could see it from her bedroom window, one window, everything on display. But one day a rumour started spreading. Maybe the merchant was broke. Maybe, the rumor said, he is going out of business. So all the creditors banged on his door, bam, bam, bam, and demanded him to pay their money. And indeed, after a couple of months, he was out of business. The store closed and everybody had to go shopping somewhere else using their non-existing cars. Now, this is a classic example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. But is this just a cute but sad little story or could it actually happen in a bigger context? Let us see if that is the case. Yes. Self-fulfilling prophecies are actually happening to all of you all the time in here without you even taking notice. I am going to let you in on a little secret. It’s just us in here. I have a superpower. Let me show it to you. I actually know who all of you are. I have never met you before, but I know who you are. And I know what you want, I know what you like. I know you like milk in your coffee, that you prefer Paulo Coelho over Stephen King. You prefer Apple over Samsung, tarantulas over chinchillas, bacon with chocolate soda over coffee, because you are born on a Monday and not on a Tuesday. Sounds weird? A bit. How about this superpower then? I know what you want, I know what you like and what you don’t like. I know where you think the world is heading. I know how and where you want to work. I know what you think about everybody else, what makes you happy, what makes you scared. And I know all of this because I know which year you are born. Does this sound less weird? Not really. There is something really, really unfair going on here. But this is how I will look at you from now on. This is how I will lead you. This is my true superpower. It may cause you to constantly underperform, but have faith, I will give you a solution. Let’s take a look at this new form of horoscope, shall we? Not based on how the stars are aligned in the sky, but actually only based on solely on what year you are born. My game is leadership. I know that when I am leading somebody, my view on that person will have an effect on the outcome because expectations have a great effect on the outcome. I’m going to say that again. Expectations have a great effect on the outcome. I could say it a third time, but I’m not going to do that. It’s a variety of the Pygmalion effect. You know, Pygmalion, the ancient Greek artist who created this beautiful marble statue, so lovely and beautiful that he actually fell in love with it. Speaking about Pygmalion, during the Euro crisis in 2008, I was watching news media all over Europe. Everybody reported the same thing. Greeks are all lazy, won’t pay the taxes. I thought so too. Right? They said it on the news. Then I went to Greece to collaborate with lots of people. And of course I realised this is not true at all. Of course it isn’t. But the damage was already done to a whole nation of people. If we use this horoscope thing on something that you have absolutely no control over, what would that look like? Let’s take age. You can’t change your age. I have a confession. I’m a something called Generation X, Gen X, born in 1965. It’s like something from a galaxy far, far away. I know. I read somewhere I am very tech positive, I’m pro social media, I keep up with the trends. Unfortunately, very lousy work ethic, I’m actually considered a cynical slacker. Gets nothing done - I’m so sorry. The problem with this is I don’t recognize myself at all. I’m a dirty workaholic. No fan of social media, keeping up with trends. Well, what do you think? I’m not so sure. Before me, my parents, called the Silent Generation. My father, you could call this man many, many things. Silent, not really, actually. But it gets worse: before the silent ones, the lost generation. Anyone in here who wants to be a part of something called the Lost Generation? Yes? No? I see no hands! Anyone? No. We must do better than this. Now, if I am confused based on all of this, what about a young person who gets a stamp on his or her forehead that says “this is who you are.” Bam! “You want coffee and not tea”. Bam! “You prefer Paulo Coelho, but no Stephen King for you.” Bam! “Just accept it!” Bam! Because… we say so. That’s it. When I, as a leadership coach, mentor people, I do it in different generations. You know, boomers, Gen-X, millennials and Gen Z's. I have found all types of people within all generations. I mean, the impulsive types who speak without thinking, openly leading the front and outcomes, whatever. You’ve seen these people, they don’t know what it’s going to be. I call it unprocessed material. Or the creative types, some so creative they haven’t touched ground since, what, late 2015! Thinking outside the box, so there is a box. How do I get in the box? That’s their challenge. Or people afraid of changes and conflicts. They say yes while crossing their fist and say everything is okay, “is everything okay between us?” and they say “yes” while shaking their heads. “Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.” Or short-tempered people, in all generations, like my wife. When we sit in the car and I'm behind the wheel and she sits there and we are waiting for the light to turn green. And as soon as it does, she says “go!” “Go, go, go, go.” And I say, “I know!” (Laughter) “I know, I’ve done this for 32 years.” “Yeah, yeah. But you know…” You know? I also know, if you label someone, it’s quite risky because they might start to act like it. They want to fit in, it’s a survival mechanism. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now it’s true. It’s true we will prioritize differently than our parents. It’s true we are affected by technology. And it’s true we adapt as the world evolves, sure! But it’s also true I see no big differences between generations when it comes to driving forces or motivational factors or differences in personalities. We must do better. What if we establish the wrong self-fulfilling prophecy? Let's do a scientific experiment. It’s going to take you 19 seconds of your youth. Take a look around you just where you’re sitting and find a face you have never seen before, just do this. You should easily see someone you have never seen in your life. Now look at this person. You could probably figure his or her age out pretty accurately. But can you see who they really are? No, you cannot, you cannot do that. If we take a look at our future, Gen Z, born between 1996 and 2010, you cannot see who they are. But you know what? There are some people who actually can do that. They have this superpower, yes, they do! Back to the horoscope once more. In a recently published report from a large thinktank, we find utterly detailed predictions. We find that Gen Z are very pragmatic and rational. But they act more emotionally. They want to belong to an inclusive, supportive community, but they are more individualistic. This is completely contradictory. It makes absolutely no sense. Lot of negative emotions. High levels of stress. Don’t deal with conflicts. If they have a problem with the boss, they won’t tell him, they just quit, using a text message, obviously. you know, just imagine: manager comes in Monday morning. Three texts comes in at the same time, they all say the same thing: “I quit. Send me the money.” So maybe afraid of conflict, but, hey, who taught him that? Well, we did, Gen X did. I blame myself! We have not been good role models when it comes to this. But the report continues. Who writes these reports anyway? Is it the millennials who want to get back at somebody? Did they read their hostile judgment about their own generation? Is this some form of revenge? Granted, the report also contains positive stuff. Yes, it does. But as we know by now, the brain focuses generally on survival, which means it picks up the bad stuff, such as chances are pessimistic, climate anxiety, Covid 19, possibly the First real setback for Gen Z’s. You know, leaving school, off to college, but not being able to leave the house. Of course it’s confusing. Maybe previous generations were a bit more emotionally prepared. It’s a theory, I mean, when I was in school, they showed us everything. They showed us footage from the Second World War. Bombs falling out of planes. People killed by artillery, marching Nazis, horrible images from concentration camps. They showed us everything. I can't watch war movies still because they make me sick. Then what? The Cold War. I lived up north in Sweden, not far from Murmansk. Locations of lots of nuclear submarines. I was terrified of a Third World war. The final one, that final strike that would wipe out 95% of humanity from the face of the Earth. Not within a hundred years. Within hours. Within hours. But the previous generations, they took the lead, they said: “It’s going to be tough, but we have what it takes. Let’s get to work.” I mean, even to the millennials labelled as narcissistic and entitled, we said, “you can do anything, anything!” which some of them really picked up, but we must do better than this. Which self-fulfilling prophecy are we enforcing on Gen Z? You're scared. You're depressed. Lost. Doomed. You will never make any money. Your world is on fire and we’re all going to die. How did we go from one insanely unrealistic vision to complete despair? How did we indeed go from “you can do anything” to “You have no future” in one generation. This is not excellent leadership. We must do better. Scaring people is dangerous. Historically, people have been scared into silence, scared into violence. People we see screaming and yelling in clips we see online. They don't do this because they are crazy. They do it because they are scared. Someone scared them. Scaring people is dangerous, scaring lots of people even more dangerous because how big is Gen-z anyway? Anyone? 2.43 billion, that’s with a B. Imagine telling 2 billion people “this is who you are and you’re no good”. “You have no direction”. Well, with some of the predictions out there, why would they have a direction? This could easily become another very dangerous, self-fulfilling prophecy. Which begs the question, who benefits from an entire generation being unhappy and dreading the future? Who gains by telling 2 billion people they are miserable victims? Who wins from Gen Z losing their hopes and dreams? Answer? No one. Everybody loses. Everybody loses. We must stop feeding young people gloomy prophecies. We must stop labeling them as miserable victims. Instead, show that there is indeed a lot to believe in. Millions and millions of young people are sharp, intelligent, talented. They will refuse the role of victimhood. They are well-educated and ready to serve. No doubt they understand challenges. They are not stupid. They also understand there are solutions. They are not stupid. They know they have to work, create, develop, build. They are not stupid, but they need guidance, they need instructions. They need a manual, they need motivation, self-confidence, they need leadership. Don't leave them hanging. In my view, the solution is a two-part thing. Number one: we, from previous generations, we must dare to step up and take the lead, but in a good way, in a trustworthy way, in a solid way. And number two: all Gen Z’s out there, you need to be willing to listen. To someof us. Some of us are complete idiots. Don’t listen to those, but listen to the ones with a message that will give you hope. Go find those people and listen to them. When I was a young man, I was in my early 20s. I sat this local bank office next to another guy, same age. We were astonished how badly this bank was run by older dudes who didn’t understand anything. 20 years later, both executives, we could laugh at ourselves. How stupid! Of course, we didn’t get it back then, but we felt like we did. But on that job, people took care of me, everybody, they led me. They educated me, they trained me. The bosses who at the time were 30 years older than I. I guess they still are 30 years older than I am. They didn’t leave me hanging. They took the lead. Did I buy everything they said? No, but they guided me towards something, they gave me a direction. They introduced me to the workplace, the society, the world. Slowly but surely. “Yeah. Yeah.” some people might say. But you know, young people these days, they have no patience. They want everything instantly because, you know, the internet. Well, who created the bloody thing anyway? We did. We did. No leadership. Good role models from people at work, from parents, from neighbors, from everybody. It takes a village, right? When I coach and mentor leaders, this is what I teach them. Don't put things into people's heads. Instead, use what is already in there, because it is in there. Don't treat everybody, by the way, as they are all the same. They are not all the same, they are individuals. That didn’t change in 1996. We must do better. I have decided I want to be a part of guiding young people towards the future, but in a meaningful, positive way that will encourage. I mean, the key to lead young people, I believe, is to not treat them as young, but as people. This doesn’t have to be complicated. So to young people in here, what if I didn’t treat you as one of 2.4 to 3 billion, but as an individual, regardless of when you were born, regardless of whether you take milk in your coffee or coffee in your milk, I mean, scrap the horoscopes, scrap it, I don’t care. What if I didn’t call you scared, depressed and problematic, but instead competent and eager to contribute? Maybe you will tell me you actually prefer chinos over  blue jeans and chinchillas or tarantulas and you don't want any bacon with chocolate soda? Give me some water, please. Maybe you also will tell me there is indeed a great future ahead. Make me believe in it. What if I could ask each and every one of you, what do you want to achieve in life and how you want to achieve it? Would you be willing to let us from previous generations help you get there? We’ve been around, we know things. We can learn a lot from you, obviously. The communication might be a bit of a challenge, but that’s a risk I think it’s worth taking. I mean, look at these people behind my back here. Do you think these people would listen to doomsday prophecies? They would not. And before you think: “Oh, exceptions”. Well, maybe. Or maybe they just don’t listen to the wrong people. This is the reason, this is the proof that horoscope thing based on which year you are born are wrong, wrong, wrong. Because remember the Pygmalion effect: it works both ways. According to the myth, Pygmalion fell so deep in love with the beautiful statue he had created that it actually came to life. How about that, for a self-fulfilling prophecy! We must do better. We can do better. So let’s do better together. Thank you.