Matriculated and Lost

That is the state of our generation. We have been branded as the unskilled educated. Degreed with an inability to succeed in the workforce. My wonderfully aggressive demeanor is quick to ask: What is happening in this workforce that over 80 million are labeled to fail. My internal locus of control begs me to ask – what is wrong with us?

What are we doing so wrong that one of the most heterogeneous generations has been categorized as if we are truly one…where did all the unique go that is forcing us all into this box called Lost?

We could easily say it is because of the economy, or lack thereof. The lack of jobs allows us to delay (even unintentionally) our careers and while changing as we see in the drop in millennial unemployment from 12.4% in 2010 to 7.7% in 2015, it still impacts our progress. Apparently it is difficult to be successful at #professionaladulting if you aren’t actively participating in it. 

Along with delayed participation, the shift to strategic development of employee populations has changed the landscape. The focus on engaging and developing critical talent and subsequent funneling of resources to achieve this goal has indirectly caused a decline in the focused development of the average employee. The hand selection (be it subjective or objective) of the best and the brightest is creating a skill and opportunity gap at a time when development needs are even stronger because of changing environments.

Furthermore, as a generation, we have been allowed to keep our proverbial training wheels because it difficult for our parents and peers to admit that competition, adversity and accountability develop our psychology in ways that help us thrive in both social and professional environments. We need those things to help us learn who we are, what we are passionate about and gain perspective. How do you know how to define success if you haven’t experience failure? How do you understand responsibility if you have no accountability? We were raised to stay perpetually neutral instead of being taught to celebrate the unique intricacies that are developed within people when they are actively passionate and uniquely developed.

I still won’t say we are lost. To be lost implies that we are either unable to find our way or that we cannot be recovered.  While we may not think in the traditional linear 30 year one employer career trajectory of our parents and grandparents – it doesn’t mean we aren’t thinking about the future. While we may have gotten a slow start – it doesn’t mean that it was wrong for the pace to change.

We are in the process of changing the world (with the help of technology) from one state or condition to another. We should be seen as an evolutionary generation. This is a journey. And some of the roads are still under construction.