Generation Snowflake is sharper than you may think

"Kids these days have it so easy, they can't handle anything. A little bit of criticism or even the slightest work pressure, and they're out on leave to 'heal their mental health.'” – Nguyen Vo, in a LinkedIn post, discussed this common comment he receives.

Discrimination, prejudice, and bias are troubling, enlarging the generational gap in the workplace. Among these is the “Snowflake Generation” term that has been going on for quite a while.

The Metaphor

Since brands have been targeting Gen Z for all their social media marketing campaign, our generation has acquired great attention from the media and has become the topic of debate for older generations. Notably, the word “snowflake” has been popping up here and there over the last few years, a derogatory term for “hyper-emotional, thin-skinned young adults”.

According to Collins Dictionary, “snowflake generation” is a slang meaning “the?generation of people who became?adults in or after the 2010s,?viewed?as being less?resilient and more prone to taking offense than previous generations.”

Basically, it means we are sensitive like snowflakes, and melt easily from just a little heat.

How can an entire generation be sensitive?

A questionnaire conducted by Zavodna (2022) on 407 university students from four different universities in the Czech Republic found that the “Generation of Crystals” felt more sensitive than their parents (40% men, 59% women).

Thakre (2023) also points out that Generation Z has heightened sensitivity, compared to previous generations due to “issues related to mental health, social justice, gender equality, and environmental sustainability”.

Constant real-time access to distressing events makes us more sensitive and exhausted. Not to say the distress individuals have to suffer on a daily basis from parental judgment, peer pressure, and self-doubt.

We really are more sensitive. We care about things the previous generations did not. We sense more danger and acknowledge more threats in our daily lives.

With access to the internet, comes the access to billions of perspectives. We are no longer restricted by the people we meet day to day, and what goes on in our tiny little brains. Knowledge and information are accessible, or even abundant.

With access to the internet, distance doesn't diminish empathy. We witness global conflicts, natural disasters, and societal issues in real-time. For example, the images and stories coming from Palestine evoke a deep sense of compassion, even without experiencing the bombings ourselves.

Being sensitive is a strength, not a weakness.

Allow me to continue with the snowflake metaphor.

What happens when snowflakes melt? It turns into water.

And water, under the correct pressure, may even cut diamonds.

The hyper-sensitive generation may as well be the ones to introduce new breakthroughs. Being sensitive is not a weakness, but merely a characteristic, a strength, even.

In a 2023 article, Time Magazine called being sensitive a “strength”.

As a personality trait, being sensitive means you take in more information from your environment, and you do more with it. Sensitive people are wired at a brain level to?process information more deeply?than others do. –? Andre Sólo

In agreement with this perspective, Jill Suttie (2023) claims that: “sensitivity is a heightened ability to perceive, process, and respond deeply to one’s environment”.

With sensitivity, we have compassion.

With sensitivity, we read social cues better.

With sensitivity, we observe, listen and empathise better.

Sensitive people tend to be more empathetic.

First, let’s dig into the notion of empathy. According to Zimmermann (2022), empathy is “being able to connect with others to identify and understand their thoughts, perspectives, and emotions and being able to demonstrate that understanding with intention, care, and concern”. There are 3 types of empathy:

• Cognitive (head/thinking);
• Affective (heart/feeling); and
• Behavioural (action/doing).

Sensitivity to emotions is viewed as a subcomponent of empathy (Jackson, 1984). Dr. Aron and Dr. Arthur Aron, who used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine brain scans of HSP individuals, also uncovered that sensitive people have increased activity in brain regions linked with awareness and empathy. (McNamee, 2014)

On a side note, being a highly sensitive person (HSP) and an empath are not mutually exclusive: One can be both, and many highly sensitive people are also empaths. There still exist “Narcissists” who are sensitive, yet not empathetic, to whom you should be aware and maybe have a different treatment as you encounter one. (Orloff, 2019)

Empathy in the workplace

In 2022, Catalyst surveyed nearly 900 US employees cross-industry and discovered that empathy is a positive force for productivity and other positive work experiences during the pandemic.

• Those with empathic managers report higher levels of creativity (61%) and engagement (76%) than those with less empathic senior leaders (13% and 32% respectively).
• Senior leader empathy is also linked to lower staff turnover and reduced intent to leave.

Consequently, people in managerial positions should be more empathetic if they want to keep their people and increase efficiency.

How about specialists? Why should they empathise with… anyone? After all, their expertise lies in specific areas. But here's the key: innovative solutions aren't born in a vacuum. They're crafted through a deep understanding of the people we're designing for. This is where empathy takes center stage.

Empathy is the ability to step into someone else's shoes and see the world from their perspective. It's about understanding their needs, frustrations, and motivations. In design thinking, it's the foundation of the entire process, and crucial for specialists too.

By embracing empathy, design thinking becomes a powerful tool for creating products and services that truly make a difference. It allows us to move beyond assumptions and connect with users on a deeper level, leading to innovative solutions that resonate with the people who matter most.

Empathy in life and relationships

I live in a multi-generational family, of 4 generations: My grandmother who lived through the Vietnam War, my parents who built their careers from scratch, myself and sister the Z Generation, and my little brothers who were born in 2016 (Generation Alpha).

As you may already tell, the generation gap in our family is huge.

When I was younger, going through puberty, I frequently had conflicts with my dad and his patriarchal mindset. He would not allow my brothers to wear pink, calling that colour “weak” and “feminine”. He would smash stuff in the house when he gets angry, and come home drunk most days.

The more I mature, the more I empathise with him. I started to understand why he is the way he is and to recognise the effort he made, day by day. He still came home drunk most days, but hospital visits made him change his mind about drinking. And he learned to try to understand his children so that we won’t leave him alone as he gets old.

Knowing my father is also the result of the environment he grew up in, his upbringing, and the pressure put on his shoulders by society and his family, I no longer fight back when he says something. I’m no longer in arguments to win it.

I learned that sensitivity and empathy come with maturity, not the opposite. By bridging generational divides, we build stronger families and communities.

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