Don’t lament so much about how your career is going to turn out. You don’t have a career. You have a life. Do the work. Keep the faith.
Cheryl Strayed – Writer
Millennial workers from 18 to 37 are twice as likely to be uncomfortable with VUCA. Dictionary.com says “the world Gen Z has inherited is one of unprecedented chaos.” (1) Millennials and Gen Z workers may be the new precariat.
Story: The below quote from Gen Z Insights captures millennial angst:
“In 2018, I’ve felt growing pressure to compete for a spot in the world. I’ve had to change my mindset from skating through life and school to applying myself to get a job and work towards college. I realized I need to stand out more than my parents and grandparents did, because the competition has become fiercer to get into good schools and to find a high-paying job. The pressure I’ve felt over the past year has made me change my outlook on life and take a hard look at what I want my future to be.”(2)
Millennials and Gen Z’ers want to design their own Future of Work (FOW) rules, which may be different than what management, company culture, stakeholders, and investors want. I would say 70 to 80% of millennials don’t like or want to follow today’s competitive and disruptive FOW rules.
Studies point to the ability to be resilient and comfortable with VUCA may be tied to happiness, higher earnings, and better performance.
“Rapid technological change means workers must keep learning, to the point where an ability to adapt – your adaptability quotient (AQ) – is becoming the X-factor for career success.”(3)
Work Lesson Earned: If you’re innovative and have experience commercializing products, then you’ll be well positioned over the next 5 years. If you’re fundamentally not innovative, then find ways to support innovation, commercialization, or monetization. You want to be on the innovation and revenue side of equation, not the expense and cost side. If you’re in doubt, what side of the equation is going to be outsourced or downsized first?
Think deeply about these questions because each of us will have to confront the FOW issues and challenges.
(1) Dictionary.com and other sources such as Sydney Herald, 2014.
(2) Gen Z Insights, January 10, 2019,
(3) ‘Tolerance of Ambiguity At Work Predicts Leadership, Job Performance, and Creativity’, Queensland University of Technology, July, 2018.