On millennials

Let me just start out by saying it feels great to be home.  Home never feels as nice as it does when you have been away, even for just a few days. 

I recently returned from a work conference in Houston which all in all was a fairly decent trip.  My co-worker and I managed to fit in some sightseeing between conference sessions so it wasn’t a week of all work and no play, and I got to enjoy some delicious seafood in Galveston while we took in the Gulf of Mexico.  While I don’t anticipate returning to Texas anytime soon it was nice to experience some of what the state has to offer.  But for me, coming back to the Pacific Northwest just felt amazing.  I love it here and feel inclined to repeat the opening sentence of this post:  It feels good to be home.

I’ve been chewing on a phrase that was thrown out at the conference because for some reason I am slightly fascinated by this notion that I previously hadn’t given much thought to.  In discussing ways that alumni organizations can better engage with their young alumni audience, one of the presenters said that millennials (a made up word for people who graduated from college 0-10 years ago) are considered the “trophy generation.”

Trophy generation.  What an interesting concept.

Essentially this stems from the idea that millennials have existed and grown up in a world where everyone is a winner, and everyone gets awarded for their contributions and achievements, no matter how big or small.  Everyone always makes the team and no small deed goes unrewarded.  We expect to be commended for our good deeds (even if they aren’t that great) and are always looking for opportunities to seize the limelight.  To me this makes it sound like we, and yes I say we because I myself am in fact a millennial, are a slightly insecure generation; a generation of wayward souls constantly seeking approval and acceptance from our older peers.

Apparently, millennials get so accustomed to this trophy mentality that once they enter the workforce, real world, life after college, all of the above, their perceptions of how things really are and how the world really works are slightly skewed.  Suddenly there is real competition and failure is more often than not a very real possibility.

Now, I realize that this trophy generalization doesn’t apply to all areas and that not everyone in the millennial generation is used to being branded a winner.  But the mindset and the idea that win or lose one should always be commended for something; this is actually very real and can often do more harm than good.  Over praising and an acceptance of lackluster standards are not and should not be the norm.

When looking at this in terms of the workforce, I don’t think many millennials are having a hard time figuring out that when it comes to a professional career, being awarded with a job right out of college is no longer the current trend.  Suddenly it’s not enough to have graduated with honors and served as the president of any number of extracurricular clubs.  Millennials aren’t hoping so much to get hired as they are to just get an interview.  The majority of the generation has a very real grasp on the struggles that await them after being handed that diploma, which could be the most beneficial trophy for them to have over the next few years.

So where does this leave us?  Is the trophy generation a real phenomenon or just a mindset held by a handful of millennials across the board?  I think it depends on a number of factors, but at its core is the art of learning how to fail.  This is not a concept that should be isolated only to millennials, but to generations across the board.  Learn how to fail at something, learn how to get knocked off your feet, and learn how to better yourself the next time. 

Millennials are a generation of tech-savvy, civic minded, educated individuals.  And for many, I don’t think it’s so much about getting the trophy as it is about getting the opportunity for the trophy.  The opportunity to win, lose or draw.