Entitled, narcissistic, self-interested, unfocused and lazy. These are the words author, motivational speaker and marketing consultant, Simon Sinek, used to describe the millennial generation in a thought-provoking interview on the Inside Quest show this October. In the interview, Sinek spoke about his opinion on why millennials are struggling in today’s work place.
For those of you who don’t know who millennials are, let me fill you in: you probably are one. Millennials are the generation of people born between1984 and 2000. At this point in time, most of them are young adults entering the work force. In Sineks’ seemingly bitter, yet humorous interview, he addressed the root of current problems he thinks the millennial generation are battling. According to Sinek, the reason millennials are this way stems from four main issues: parenting, technology, impatience and environment.
Millennials, Sinek said, have grown up under bad parenting techniques and “failed parenting strategies.” He said that millennials have been told they were special, told they could have anything in life just because they want it, and are rewarded just for participation. Because of this, millennials are portrayed as helpless individuals who overly rely on their parents. According to Sinek, this has caused them to become entitled and lack self-esteem. He suggested that when millennials enter the ‘real world’ of the work place, their self-image will be shattered under the weight of their childhood conditioning.
Next, Sinek criticized millennials use of technology. He said that millennials are addicted to social media and cell phones in general, giving a single example of research to support his opinion. He then goes a step further to compare cell phone use to alcohol abuse, gambling and drug use, because they all release dopamine, a neurotransmitter for reward, into the brain. For example, every time someone gets a text or a “like”on Instagram, Sinek says that research shows how dopamine is released in the brain’s reward system.
As a result of this addiction, Sinek believes that millennials are often unable to form deep, meaningful relationships and lack true creative innovation. While there are problems that rise from media addiction, I think that more-often-than-not it allows us to connect with others more. Like anything else, it must be used wisely.
This excessive use of technology, along with the rise of the Internet, is the main factor leading to millennials impatience and need for instant gratification, Sinek said. He illustrated his point with several examples, such as: Amazon’s next-day delivery, Netflix binging, instead of having to wait for an episode each week and Tinder’s instant dating, which allows people a bypass social interaction and encourages immediate gratification.
Sinek believes that this generally leads millennials to be unsatisfied in their work places, and even their entire lives. He said the root of this dissatisfaction is because job fulfillment and deep relationships are two of the only things that you cannot have instantly; they take time and patience. A result of this factor, he claims, is a generation of people never finding true joy.
Lastly, Sinek softens his blows to say that the current work environments that millennials are in do not care about them individually, but care more about numbers and profit. He says that this causes further strife in millennials work lives.
Overall, I found his entire analysis of the millennial generation to be quite negative and criticizing. One of my main issues with how he views millennials is that it is not outcome-based. While identifying problems is important when trying to solve an issue, dwelling on them without offering solutions is not helpful at all. I think that problems should be briefly addressed before solutions are discussed and implemented. If a problem cannot be changed or averted, positive avenues of tolerance or ways to work positively around the issue should be taken.
Another problem I have with Sinek’s response is his generational and social position. If you are viewing a group from the outside, which Sinek does as a generation X individual, you do not have a full understanding of the group’s function and structure. You can have opinions and advice to give, but only the group itself truly understands its own issues and challenges. Sinek is also only viewing millennials within a first world corporate work environment. There are many other types of millennials, who come from very different work environments.. His opinions seem to overgeneralize an entire generation.
Lastly, I do not agree on Sineks implied views of social evolution. Each generation of people are unique, coming with their own advantages and disadvantages. Both the work place and the rest of society will then evolve to be able to fit that generation. It is impossible to expect one generation to function and behave like another. They are completely different.
I believe the work place must mold itself around the millennials instead of the millennials molding themselves around the work place. Yes, this will take time, because growth is not always easy, but hopefully through the process millennials will learn how to make way for this evolution as subsequent generations to follow after them.
Robert F. Kennedy once said, “There are people in every time and every land who want to stop history in its tracks. They fear the future, mistrust the present, and invoke the comfortable past which, in fact, never existed.” The past can be used to influence the future, but it is not the goal. As people from all generations and environments, we should be evolving towards a more positive future distinctly separate from the past, but based on the lessons we have learned from it. We, as millennials, have a great deal of benefits that other generations have never had; therefore, it is up to us whether we use them wisely or abuse them and prove Sinek right.
By AJ Stambolie, staff writer
