Warning Signs - Generational Apartheid,
Feature Article by Scott Degraffenreid

In This Issue

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Warning Signs - Generational Apartheid

Millennials are being treated as if they are somehow defective or diseased. Nothing could be further from the truth.
They aren't broken and they don't need fixing.

Millennials Aren't Afraid of Due Diligence

Because they aren't politically motivated, can assess and process multiple layers of procedures and view corporate operations and issues as something that needs to be fixed or improved without personal attachment, Millennials are ideally suited to research a perform due diligence.

Using eBooks and eCourses for Continuing Education

Processing pace, frequent updates and targeting multiple learning styles make electronic versions of books and training courses a mode of choice in cutting edge educational institutions and corporations.

Announcements

Special Offers

Warning Signs - Generational Apartheid
by Scott Degraffenreid

We are in the first stages of a social phenomenon that can fairly and accurately be referred to as “generational apartheid”. I hesitate to use this term because I know it is polarizing and may be viewed by many as overly dramatizing the situation but I will call it how I see it, as an experienced Social Network Analyst. Throughout America and much of the industrialized world, a quiet offense is being waged against a burgeoning demographic. The remarkable thing is that it is not being done deliberately, systematically or even maliciously. Unfortunately the net effect is and will be just the same as if we had set out to marginalize, ostracize and manipulate this population.

Millennials, the demographic sector born circa 1982-2001, are being held virtual hostages by prior generations. Baby Boomers and Gen Xers were at first myopically indifferent to the profound changes exhibited by the group of young people sometimes inappropriately referred to as Gen Y. In general, no one considered the far-reaching implications for children raised in an environment that was technologically, culturally and even chronologically different than anything that has ever occurred before. That lack of foresight and preparation is part of the reason Millennials appear to have landed in our midst like some incomprehensible alien invasion. In truth they did not arrive without warning and they are clearly finding little welcome.

Because older generations find many of their characteristics somewhere between annoyingly unfamiliar and totally unacceptable, they have taken the position that Millennials must conform to the standards established by those who grew up in a very different environment from theirs. Millennials are being treated as if they are somehow defective or diseased. Nothing could be further from the truth. They aren't broken and they don't need fixing.

Millennials were raised in the cradle of an unprecedented perfect storm of cultural, technological and historical trends. The result is a generation of people nearly perfectly adapted to the chaotic, volatile and globally hyperlinked world they must live in and try to shape for the better. Demanding that they be other than themselves is as naïve as trying to turn back evolution. We must not only accept, but respect and embrace their dynamic outlook and neurological differences. Forcing them to emulate us, or simply excluding them if they refuse, is leading to a mutual resentment and alienation that can have no positive outcome and which is rapidly creating a hostile subculture.

Reaching out to Millennials is the duty of older generations. They did not ask to be shaped in the ways they have been by the technology and culture we created and immersed them in. They have been summarily launched into thought and behavior patterns that no previous generation has ever experienced. We are the instruments of their differentiation; they are adapted to the world we gave them to live in. We cannot shut them out or stop them. They are the future.

It is the purpose of N2Millennials to bridge the gap between Millennials and their forebears. We are committed to forging a partnership of trust and acknowledgment that recognizes the value of all generations not only in the workplace, but in the world at large.

Millennials Aren't Afraid of Due Diligence
by Ron Bordelon

Many observers of Millennials are amazed and frustrated at the peculiarities of this new layer of the work force. A closer look at Millennials can reveal how they might not only be helpful to the workplace, but also, in some instances, be a stark improvement. Under a microscope, they might even be really good for business. This column will take a look at the concrete possibilities that Millennials’ capacities can deliver into the mix of minding the store, boosting the bottom line and keeping customers satisfied.

Due Diligence Expanded

Due diligence reviews of possible merger candidates, strategic allies or outsourcing partners are essential to making wise choices in building capacities. Though important, not all such reviews are conducted with the same priorities. Many organizations only occupy themselves with attaining “target numbers” and satisfying the favorite, quantifiable objectives of distant investors. Proving that what has been represented really exists can consume all of the available time, given typically demanding deadlines. In these instances, no attention is given to being curious about what has not been represented.

Rather than simply checking out reported information, a robust due diligence effort will include open-ended questions. An interviewer can get up close and personal when asking a target company leader: “What explains your success?” or “What do you need to continually do to know what you need to know about your customer?” Such questions can stretch the radar, so that initial expectations don’t limit what is explored. The result(s) of open-ended questioning can be significant and would include:
• Assessing opportunities previously overlooked or abandoned with your capabilities in mind;
• Learning the logic behind pivotal decisions in the past;
• Surfacing ideas and initiatives that were “never completed” and viewing them with a new perspective.

Admittedly, some companies already use open-ended questions. Even for those organizations though, are they equally at ease with open-ended questions as a Millennial? As persistent searchers, Millennials will be less likely to pause when a conversation unfolds in a way that begs for inquiry into the unexpected. By example, compare the ease with which a Millennial is likely to have, when compared to many a seasoned executive, with these kinds of questions to the target company’s leaders:

• In what ways are you vulnerable as a company?
• Can you identify 2 or 3 mistakes made by your company recently and share what you have learned from them?
• Have you used outside consultants in the past several years to look at similar issues?

An eager Millennial on your due diligence team will ask such questions without pause because, after all, he is just asking more about the natural journey every company takes that reflects gains only realizable through speed bumps, setbacks and head scratching. Millennials will be less judgmental in asking the “hard” questions and will enhance the possibility of either identifying unacceptable risks or finding the value that no one has yet seen. They may be seen as risk managers or visionaries in this role as a due diligence team member. In either case, they are naturals.

Using eBooks and eCourses for Continuing Education
Guest Contributor Column
by Kathryn Booth

You'll notice at N2Millennials, we put a lot of focus on eBooks, eCourses and Webinars. There are several benefits our users experience with these formats:

1. Processing speed is higher - clicking through an indexed eBook is a faster way to Access detailed information.

2. Information is updated frequently and can be customized for individual companies.

3. There is no lag time between creation of the information and delivery...24 hours a day you can have instant access to current information.

4. Because Multi-Media can be integrated, sound and pictures and text movement allow multiple learning styles to get more comprehension and less stress absorbing the materials covered.

5. Information can be distributed rapidly to all team members and they can read, take eCourses and listen to/view Webinars on a schedule that is convenient to them with no travel necessary.

6. In conjunction with on-site meetings, we offer access to training materials online so that team members who were covering shifts or absent during Corporate group sessions or who are new can be updated rapidly.

7. There is no storage space, paper or obsolete materials with electronic media and it can be downloaded to computers, PDA's and even cell phones for portable access.

In the next few months, our course library will be growing rapidly with material on Millennials, Creating a Culture of Acknowledgment, Referral Marketing and Team Training. Monitoring the N2Millennials Newsletter is the best way to get the most current resources.

This Month's Announcements

Updated Books -

New Versions of "Blazing a T.R.A.I.L. to Success, The New Art and Science of Acknowledgment" by Scott Degraffenreid and "Embracing the N.U.D.E. Model, The New Art and Science of Referral Marketing" by Scott Degraffenreid are released through the N2Millennials website as eBooks and will be available in Paperback in late April. Visit the Learning Center to order.

We're Expecting!!! Scott's New Book is due April 15th - "Understanding the Millennial Mind - A Menace or Amazing"

This book has been in the research phase for the last couple of years and will be getting a lot of press coverage as a key resource for everyone who interacts with Millennials.
Paperback version, eBook and eCourse will be released in April.

Mini-Courses -

For those who sign up for our Newsletter until April 15th, we will be offering Free Access to 3 Mini-Courses

Byte-Sized Acknowledgment: The Mirror
Byte-Sized Millennials: Menu Please
Byte-Sized Marketing: Quality Reality Check

These courses usually retail for $4.95 and are a great way to increase your network power by getting key information to friends and colleagues.

Use the Sign Up form on the N2Millennials site and you will be directed to the course links after you enter and submit your Name and E-Mail address.

A detailed Privacy Policy is linked to the bottom of the form.

Special Offers

For those who sign up for our Newsletter, we will be offering Free Access to 3 Mini eCourses

Byte-Sized Acknowledgment: The Mirror
Byte-Sized Millennials: Menu Please
Byte-Sized Marketing: Quality Reality Check

These courses usually retail for $4.95 and are a great way to increase your network power by getting key information to friends and colleagues.

Use the Sign Up form on the N2Millennials site and you will be directed to the course links after you enter and submit your Name and E-Mail address.

A detailed Privacy Policy is linked to the bottom of the form.