Quote for the week

"If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."

I attended a talk recently by a guy who has studied human behavior for 12 years. He said that people today can be broadly grouped into three generations: baby boomers, generation X and generation Y.

Baby boomers grew up during the second world war and are probably around late 40s and 50s today. They experienced hardship and therefore treasure loyalty. You can see them stay loyal to one company, one boss for many years even if it may mean forgoing better opportunities.

The next group to come about is generation X, which comprises people who are in their late 30s or so. These guys came out of the post war era, but were taught good values by their elders. They want more benefits and good stuff in life, but are willing to be patient and work hard for it, though seizing the opportunity if there is one.

Generation Y defines myself and others around my age (and younger). Generation Y people want instant benefits. They do reckless things, job hop and all that in order to get the maximum benefit in terms of social status and monetary gains in the shortest times. They squander money on clubbing and having the latest products to show the world that they have "arrived". You routinely see such people racking up huge credit card debts and losing all their life savings when the stock market crashes.

The conflict that young employees have today is that they work with seniors/mentors from generation X and are managed by baby boomer bosses who cannot understand why they are so restless and cannot treasure loyalty, hard work, patience and thrift. Instant benefits for the gen Y often means skipping the hard work part and getting burnt instead. Just look at the way they trade their stocks (I am sometimes guilty of that too, just can't resist the urge)! Maybe we need take a step back and learn from the elders. "If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."