How do you understand the Millenniums? I started already. I am on level 10 of Pokémon Go

Hello all,

What a nice time off I had. It has been a couple of months since my last blog. I hope you guys missed me. I certainly did miss writing. But it was important to take a break. I got involved on a couple of other small Projects and also spent the summer with my family. I promised them I would dedicate my free time with them. And it was worthwhile. I followed my son’s soccer team during their season and I also went to Japan with them (please wait for my article about Japan... what a life experience). Anyway, I am back for the second half of the year. My goal now is to be able to reach you and hopefully your friends, with interesting, fun and “readable” articles.

Let’s talk about the new (or old) fever of the moment. The Pokémon Go. For me, at first, it was such a stupid, non-sense game I couldn’t understand why so many people was playing it. I actually found very “immature” to see them walking up and down the streets, searching for these “ugly” little things, throwing balls at them, for no particular reason. Ah, I forgot to mention the “Pokémon stops” (always full of people), and the “Pokémon Gyms”, where insane and fearsome battles happened for the control of the place. To be honest, I was getting annoying to what was happening around me. I even had an argument with my 11 year old son when he asked if he could install it to his phone. My first reaction was: "OK son, this is such a waste of time. Look around you.  What is the meaning of this game?” But, as most of 11 year old kids do, he did not pay attention to me. After that day, we began the journey of hunting the little “ugly things”.

But I still was not comfortable with the idea. The days were passing by, and, more and more people were getting addicted to the game. I was still intrigued with that. And the vast majority, I would say, 90% of the people playing it, were the so called “Millenniums”.  At work, my colleagues were also playing (not particularly at work), but I could see them on their lunch breaks, hunting and throwing balls, left and right, fast and slow, walking back in fourth, like a zombie “B” movie.

This past weekend, during my “walk” with my family (actually following my son on his daily hunting), I thought about something: “Maybe, I am the wrong one. Maybe, I am the one who needs to understand the tendencies and go with the flow. Maybe, this game is not so bad. Maybe, I need to try it. Yes, I will install it, and not tell anyone. That’s a good idea. At least I will have a valid argument to support me on how much I detest this game. Ops, what is it? Oh, I can see I a Wild Pidgey. Let me throw a ball on him. Yeah, I am not going to catch that, and I will delete the game from my phone. I got it. I got it... Now, I have a Ratata. Another throw. Bingo!!!

Actually, the game is not so bad. There is something about it that captivates the people. Wait a second, just found another one. Hey, I am now at level 2... And 3,4,5,6,7,8,9... Today, while going for lunch, I was able to capture a couple of big “guys” and was moved to level 10.

Here is the moral of the story. You can argue as much as you can, fight, deny, complain whatever... but if you keep being such a stubborn person, you will never, ever, EVER... be able to understand the new wave of the workforce that is coming to your company. Yes, I am talking about them, the “Pokémon Hunters”, the Facebookers, You Tubers, Spotifiers, Instagramers, THE “MILLENNIUMS”. There are tons of them around you, getting their first, second, or third jobs. You can’t deny them. You need to get into their heads, understand their dreams, their goals, and their objectives. They easily get bored, and that’s actually something unrelated to their work environment. It is already built on them. They will be the ones asking you the 5 W’s. Do you know it? What, When, Where, Who, and, especially, WHY? Are you prepared to answer to them? If not, do yourself a favor. Install the Pokémon Go game in your phone, and go for hunting with your kids, grand-kids, nephews, nieces. I don’t work for the company and I am not trying to sell it to you. It is just a mechanism for you to begin the process of understanding them. Why are they so addicted to the game? Why are they not spending any time reading books, or playing an instrument? It is actually not up to us, the baby-boomers, or the generation X (or Y, I don’t know anymore) to find the answer for those questions. The point is clear: the MILLENNIUMS have their own needs, and we need to be ready for them.

I am also not saying to transform your office into anarchy. No rules, no policies, no nothing. That is the challenge we have to face. We need to adapt the rules and policies to the new reality. Do I allow my folks to listen to music while working? Of course I do, as long as they are performing and providing value to our company. What do I do if I see them checking on the Internet? Oh, that’s easy. I am going to FIRE them. WRONG ANSWER. If you are going to fire that person, you might have to fire them all, including you. Don’t tell me you don’t check the Internet once in a while, during your working hours? The question is: are they performing? If the answer is YES, then all you have to do is to make sure, they keep performing. And that’s our biggest challenge. How to keep them ENGAGED? But, it is topic for a later discussion. For now, congratulations, you have advanced to level 2.

Take care

Disclaimer

This post is not related to author's employer and the information posted by the author does not necessarily reflect company opinions, being the author the solely responsible for them.

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