The one thing that excites me about being a millennial is the same thing that scares me. That is…change. The concept in itself is not a new one but has been around from creation or evolution depending on your outlook on life (I believe in the former) but the speed at which it occurs or seems to be occurring is both frightening and exciting. Though still a child while my parents were coming to age (obviously) the world seemed to have taken a slower pace in the way things were orchestrated. Presently though before you can construct a proper tweet or instagram upload, the stoplight is changing (#firstworldtechnology problems). It all appears to be happening so quickly that before you have grasped the concept of the tipping point Malcolm Gladwell is coming up with something new …Elite Institution Cognitive Disorder…..) At the same time before you can finish your coffee in the morning Dr. Oz is telling you why coffee is bad for you and why the pants you’re wearing will reduce your chance of having children, or why ginger is the new super fruit but two weeks ago it was garlic and the week before that kale… all before walking out your front door.
What intrigues me though is how all this ties into our jobs and how we make a living. As fast as you land a job after graduating (fast here being relative as for some persons 9 months may be pretty quick while 9 days seems like eternity for others), you see the headlines flashing “10 ways to increase your productivity at work”. Before you have a name plate or have established your place in the proverbial food chain, you’re already being bombarded with ways to improve before having even set a standard. For those (self included) who have started the journey and making the “almighty dollar” (could be mightier if you ask me) you begin asking yourself; what am I doing? How can I do it better? Should I do it better? How long before I’m promoted? And most importantly why do we do things the same way just because that’s the way we met them being done and no one ever asked the question why?
For my generation, being stuck between a younger generation that is changing at the speed of light and behind a generation just waiting to retire is by all means intellectual and motivational purgatory. I speak not of the developing world as I imagine their plight to be much different than ours in the Caribbean. I do speak of being raised in an era where pen and pencil were the way of life and human interaction took place without middlemen (i.e. laptops, tablets, smart phones etc.). Here I had the distinct impression that this was going to be the way of life until the end of life. But all this changed so suddenly it’s as if you woke up using ios6 not realizing ios7 has been launched and already running for 24 hrs while you took a 1 hr nap. Now you’re plugged into the matrix trying to learn the basics. But we do what we must cause ours is a generation of thrust. We will and must go forward at any cost. Though we have come to enjoy the peace and tranquility of our forefather’s way of life, the current demand for change keeps us motivated. As your boss will accept nothing short of blood for not seeing that BBM was vastly becoming antiquated, so will they accept nothing less than constant innovation. Whether it’s in the way algebra is taught or mosquitoes are caught (those handheld zappers pack a mean punch) what they thrive on is what we must provide, and today that thing is change.
Hopefully by then pigs will actually be able to fly and we will have a chance to say like generations before us, we did it! Not for us, but for you.
