“Half way there… It’s almost the weekend…” If you’re still out in the corporate world, you probably also heard some similar quip about the end of the coming week. But I have to ask, is the weekend really the goal? Is that what all of us are working towards? I got news for you… there’ll be another Monday next week, followed by 5 days of wishing it was the weekend.
This comment, made in passing in the hall, again reminded me there’s more than nine to five. If time is your most valuable resource, is a 2 day return for a 5 day investment an acceptable ROI?
It seems like more and more people in the “Net Generation” have this same disenchantment with nine by five by forty years. Everyone seems to all think that the baby boomers are missing the boat and we wont get caught working that hard and long. But…is it just our generation? Do all generations go through a similar phase, then come to the realization that for the majority of people it’s just a dream? Does the reality of mortgages, kids, and retirement accounts always trump the initial vision? Again I ask, is the dream of escaping the corporate rat race new? I believe it’s an important question to ask, not only because it’s getting so much attention these days in blogs, books, and other media, but also because so many of my peers seem to think they’ve unlocked the key their parents were missing. I’m still on the fence as to whether it’s new, and would love to discuss with some baby boomers. I have a few thoughts on both sides…
Why it might be different this time:
- The web makes generating income from home (or better yet from another country) something previous generations could never imagine.
- The days of pensions are over, changing jobs is a fact of life, so finding another job after “living the dream” isn’t a far fetched idea.
Why it might not:
- It’s not our generation, it’s our life stage. Everyone goes through it. What about the 70′s?!
- Just like previous generations, everyday life will take over and it’ll just be one of those things we wish we’d done.
What are your thoughts? I’m interested to hear from anyone in the baby boomer generation to get your perspective. (Or ask your parents and post it. 
)
PS. Missed posting on Wednesday by 9 minutes… that’s what proof reading will get you!
#1 by Abby - August 5th, 2009 at 13:01
I found this article about creating a “learning organization” interesting: http://www.esondemand.com/company/99/webdocs/Learning%20Org%20White%20Paper.pdf It discusses way in which to manage the new generation of workers and talks about ways to retain workers. It definitely seems to fall in line with the Think Forward Work Backward idea. Allowing people to grow at a company is key to retention. Even if the learning that is done is not directly related to the person’s job but teaches them a “life skill, ” it shows commitment to the employee as a whole (as opposed to a worker who can be replaced) and for me, being one of the new generation of workers, is a very important attribute of a company.
#2 by Philip Budd - October 26th, 2009 at 17:03
Abby, Thanks for mentioning the article. I’m glad you found it interesting. And what you say is so incredibly important. Unofrtunate that many companies haven’t quite figured it out yet, but have faith. A good bit of intellect is focusing in on those things that are so important to you and many more new generation workers like you! Cheers!