Millennials: Innovation is the Status Quo

When I graduated from college nearly 20 years ago, success meant a good job, an apartment of my own, a new stereo system, and no tattoos or piercings. (That last metric of success was from the parental perspective.)

Times have changed. The crop of college graduates being nudged out of their cozy academic nests over the last few weeks measure success differently. And we’d argue that’s a good thing.

Job? Life after school is now about more than a paycheck. For the Millennial Generation (current twenty-somethings), the recipe for a successful life includes a dash of personal happiness, a pinch of strong social relationships, and most importantly, a large dollop of change the world goodness. And they want these things from their workplace. That’s why one of the most difficult jobs to land this year was a spot with Teach for America, which accepted only 11% of applicants.

Recent graduates are looking for meaning in even the most menial jobs. A 2012 report by Rutgers University found that 59 percent of millennials see having a job where they can make an impact on causes or issues that are important to them as “very important” or “essential;” for young millennials, its 70 percent. Simply, they would rather help the world than help themselves. We think that’s awesome.

Apartment? Nope. They’d rather live rent-free with mom and dad. The fact that 85% of this year’s graduates will move back home is causing great distress…for parents. But is it really a bad thing? Every dollar saved in rent means less time doing meaningless work and more time to pursue their passions. Owning a home isn’t the ultimate dream—it’s a burden, something tying them down (reminiscent of student loans). Even those who enjoy nice salaries often decide to live at home, and not just to save money—they actually like their parents!

Stereo? What’s that? They have more power in their phone today than NASA had when it flew the first shuttle to the moon in 1969. Millennials are defined (and define themselves) by their connection to technology, particularly mobile. Their computer is no longer their most important gadget – it’s their phone. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, text messaging is now the number one way that teens communicate with their friends on a daily basis; even more than talking face to face. Some adults use this information to suggest that today’s young people are incapable of communicating “properly,” wondering if their devices have made young people stupid.

Nonsense!

Grown-ups today sound a lot like their parents who complained about the radio and TV. New technologies are inevitable and often valuable. Think the Arab Spring and Twitter, or text donations after the Haiti earthquakes. Our own research has found that millennials are 11 times more likely to volunteer with us when we contact them via texting, rather than email.

The more interesting question is why is this generation set on pursuing happiness and meaning instead of traditional success metrics? We think it’s in their very DNA. Millennials are one of the most diverse generations in history, in race, ethnicity, and stated sexual orientation. Simultaneously, social acceptance and inclusivity abound. Support for interracial and same-sex marriages young people is higher than ever before. In less time than we suspect, discrimination based on race, gender, or sexual orientation will not only be illegal, but laughable.

With its unique traits, the Millennial Generation is poised to bring the social and business worlds closer together - tying profit to social change, and strong local communities to a new global society. This restructuring will be driven by the technological mobility of millennials, which corresponds to a physical freedom – the right place to live is determined by the location of the right job.

In fact, what is most exciting about millennials is that they are willing to give up the trappings of traditional success (i.e., money) to improve the well-being of themselves, their community, and the world. This also means they are not beholden to steady jobs and pensions – instead, millennials are perfectly equipped to be the vanguard of the 21 century company – agile, iterative organizations focused on social entrepreneurship. For millennials, innovation is the status quo.

Bottom line? We’re stoked to follow them.

Written by Nancy Lublin and Bob Filbin of DoSomething.org