Ever since I was 8, I have been on a swim team. I quickly learned that swimming was the only sport I really excelled at and I ran with it all the way until I was 18. Luckily, I was blessed to be coached by some really great people that helped me swim faster while also teaching me about hard work and perseverance.
One common theme amongst my coaches was that they were all young. This tended to be coupled with a newer style of training that was more tailored to shorter intervals. Many of my swim friends had different coaches that coached in a more traditional way that involved a lot of non-stop distance swimming. While they are two completely different styles of training, we often got similar accomplishments.
Something that I’ve been exposed to during my time working, is different ways to get the same thing done. Every person is super different, and that means that we probably process information in different ways and complete tasks differently. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this. No two humans’ brains are hard-wired the same way and so, no two humans are going to think exactly the same!
This especially goes for people of different generations. Again, there’s nothing with this! Generations grow up differently, with different technologies, ideas, and practices.
One of the things that I bicker most about with my parents are these differences in getting things done. My parents LOVE to tell me “just call them!” whenever I have to solve a problem that will require assistance from someone else. Personally, I really dislike calling people and I know for a fact that the majority of Gen-Zer’s would say the exact same. I don’t see calling going away anytime soon, but there is a very apparent rise in mediums that are replacing calling, that you can use to solve the same problems!
I would much rather prefer ordering my pizza online, but my Mom might prefer to order pizza over the phone. That’s okay! We are getting the same thing done, just in a different way.
In my experience, I tend to find that leaders in business may preach that they are open to new ideas, but they still think their way is the best way. That’s normal! Everyone always thinks that their way is going to be the best way because it makes sense to YOU. It’s important to realize that the way that makes sense for you to complete a project may make perfect sense for your 48-year-old brain (Gen-X, I’m looking at you), but that might not make sense to my 19-year-old brain.
The majority of the time, the leader’s way probably is the best. They definitely have more experience and they know what is the most efficient way to get things done. A lot of people are good at taking criticism or recommendations from people that are at the same level as them, but they aren’t so good at taking it from say, an intern like me.
We were all young once and we get that youngins’ are impulsive and stupid. But amongst all that mess, there can sometimes be a little nugget of genius and you find that nugget, let that nugget grow, and then let that nugget shine!
This post was written by Cameron Sackett (not Tim) – you can probably tell because it lacks grammatical errors!
HR and TA Pros – have a question you would like to ask directly to a Gen Z? Ask us in the comments and I’ll respond in an upcoming blog post right here on the project. Have some feedback for me? Again, please share in the comments and/or connect with me on LinkedIn.