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When Gen X Runs the Show - The Future of Work - TIME

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Saved by 14 people (-2 private), first by anonymouse user on 2009-05-17


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By 2019, Generation X — that relatively small cohort born from 1965 to 1978 — will have spent nearly two decades bumping up against a gray ceiling of boomers in senior decision-making jobs. But that will end.

Highlighted by skanig

"In 2019, Gen X will finally be in charge. And they will make some big changes."

Highlighted by mmkrill

Paying your dues, moving up slowly and getting the corner office — that's going away. In 10 years, it will be gone,"

Highlighted by sarahhanawald

on 2009-05-17 by sarahhanawald

I think it's already gone, and has been for a while, with journalists documenting it regularly. I recall reading that the one-company career was over when I was searching for my first job--in 1989!

on 2009-05-18 by montcalm

i think you're right. unfortunately this is one gen y'er who would be perfectly happy working at a good organization for however many years...starting at the bottom and working up...totally not suited for endless freelancing over here :(

Instead, success will be defined not by rank or seniority but by getting what matters to you personally

Highlighted by sarahhanawald

success will be defined not by rank or seniority but by getting what matters to you personally," whether that's the chance to lead a new-product launch or being able to take winters off for snowboarding.

Highlighted by hackerlibrarian

Companies already want more short-term independent contractors and consultants and fewer traditional employees because contractors are cheaper. And seniority matters less and less as time goes on, because it's about the past, not the future."

Highlighted by skanig

contractors are cheaper

Highlighted by gminks

fewer traditional employees

Highlighted by gminks

on 2009-10-14 by gminks

Are contractors always cheaper? Define cheaper.

The Gen X managers who will be holding all this together will need to be adept at a few things that earlier generations, with their more hierarchical management styles and relative geographical insularity, never really had to learn. One of those is collaborative decision-making

Highlighted by sarahhanawald

the best training for anyone who wants to succeed in 10 years is the online game World of Warcraft.

Highlighted by sarahhanawald

They don't teach that in B school — at least not yet. In fact, Rob Carter, chief information officer at FedEx, thinks the best training for anyone who wants to succeed in 10 years is the online game World of Warcraft. Carter says WoW, as its 10 million devotees worldwide call it, offers a peek into the workplace of the future. Each team faces a fast-paced, complicated series of obstacles called quests, and each player, via his online avatar, must contribute to resolving them or else lose his place on the team. The player who contributes most gets to lead the team — until someone else contributes more. The game, which many Gen Yers learned as teens, is intensely collaborative, constantly demanding and often surprising. "It takes exactly the same skill set people will need more of in the future to collaborate on work projects," says Carter. "The kids are already doing it."

Highlighted by skanig

on 2009-05-22 by skanig

By the sound of this paragraph, my son will be the most successful team leader. He has been WoWing for years!!

Each team faces a fast-paced, complicated series of obstacles called quests, and each player, via his online avatar, must contribute to resolving them or else lose his place on the team. The player who contributes most gets to lead the team — until someone else contributes more.

Highlighted by montcalm

on 2009-05-18 by montcalm

lolwut? clearly someone gave these folks the wrong info about wow. as someone who has participated in these large-scale "teams" (large scale meaning 25 people), raid leaders don't just come and go depending on who can lead the raid the most effectively. most guilds have institutionalized the leadership and sometimes (read: most of the time) that leadership is poor, or ignores structural problems with the guild, or is unfair in doling out rewards and punishments, or disappears without a trace one day. sure wow might allow for a more fluid arrangement, but in my (extensive ><) experience this very rarely happens.

on 2009-10-21 by ellsbeth

There are guilds out there with very stable leadership that purposefully cultivate future leaders and team members. Most of those guilds involve older players who have the know how and the willingness to spend time cultivating a team environment and developing less experienced players. The leadership teams looks at the strengths and weaknesses of other players and work out strategies that take advantage of this or compensate as needed. I agree that this type of guild is not the majority, but they are definitely out there.