Today's younger worker has been influenced by three things. And those influencers changed their expectations and behavior about life and work. Original Article is here: https://heleo.com/conversation-millennials-are-changing-the-way-we-work-and-its-all-because-of-star-wars/14666/

1.
Click
here
for
Original
Article:
Millennials
Are
Changing
The
Way
We
Work,
and
It's
All
Because
of
'Star
Wars'
Millennials are Changing
the Way We Work,
and It’s All Because
of ‘Star Wars’
We’ve
entered
into
a
time
where
people
don’t
equate
hard
work
with
getting
ahead.
Instead
they
want
the
work/life
balance.
They
watched
their
parents
work
themselves
to
death,
and
they
don’t
want
to
do
that.”
—
Brad
Szollose
By
Jeremy
Price
Jun
6,
2017
David
Burkus
is
an
award-­‐winning
podcaster
and
author
of
Under
New
Management:
How
Leading
Organizations
Are
Upending
Business
as
Usual.
He
recently
hosted
Brad
Szollose,
author
of
the
award-­‐winning
business
book
Liquid
Leadership,
is
a
global
business
advisor
who
helps
companies
understand
how
technology
has
transformed
corporate
culture
and
the
behavior
of
Generation
Y
Millennials,
to
discuss
how
the
influences
of
video
games,
Star
Wars,
and
more
are
helping
Millennials
transform
the
workplace
for
good.
Continued
on
Next
Page…
Life-­‐changing
ideas
from
the
world’s
great
thinkers.
Served
daily.

2.
Click
here
for
Original
Article:
Millennials
Are
Changing
The
Way
We
Work,
and
It's
All
Because
of
'Star
Wars'
David:
As
you’ve
explored
in
your
book,
Liquid
Leadership,
times
are
changing,
and
leadership
styles
are
changing.
I
wonder
if
you
could
take
us
back
to
how
you
arrived
at
this
[conclusion].
Brad:
Around
the
early
90s,
I
started
a
company
called
K2
Design
with
my
business
partner
at
the
time,
Douglas
Cleek.
A
year
later,
he
comes
into
the
office.
He
says,
“Dude.
We
have
to
become
an
Internet
company,”
and
I
say,
“What
the
heck’s
the
internet?”
In
the
early
90s,
very
few
people
knew
what
the
internet
was.
As
soon
as
we
started
building
our
first
websites,
we
exploded.
425%
hyper-­‐
growth
for
five
straight
years.
It
went
from
just
me
and
a
business
partner
to
sixty
employees.
[But]
the
behavior
of
this
next
generation
[of
employees]
was
driving
me
up
a
wall.
We
had
a
generational
issue.
You
have
a
new
generation
that’s
been
trained
and
influenced
by
three
major
things.
First,
let’s
go
back
in
time.
Around
1977,
these
new
things
came
into
our
world
called
“video
games.”
How
do
you
learn
in
a
video
game?
David:
You
die
and
then
you
try
again.
Brad:
You
learn
the
rules
intuitively.
You
push
against,
you
test,
you
fail
as
much
as
you
can
so
that
you
can
figure
out
what
the
rules
and
the
politics
are.
Now
if
you’re
a
baby
boomer,
you
remember
playing
Monopoly.
You
had
to
read
the
box,
take
your
time,
learn
the
rules,
and
then
you
could
play
the
game.
So
what
happened
is
a
new
generation
was
raised
with
all
this
interactivity.
They
didn’t
just
sit
and
watch
a
television
show.
Everything
became
interactive:
Teddy
Ruxpin,
Speak
and
Spell,
things
like
that.
And
in
the
video
game
world,
leadership
is
rotational.
Everybody
is
used
according
to
their
skill
set
within
the
parameters
of
the
quest.
So
video
games
are
a
huge
component
to
the
behavior
of
millennials.
The
second
big
piece
that
influenced
this
next
generation
is
Star
Wars.
It
changed
our
perspective
on
how
to
use
technology
in
a
ubiquitous
way.
Just
like
using
a
toaster
or
driving
a
car,
Star
Wars
showed
us
what
a
T1
line
would
look
like.
Or
how
to
use
a
pad
or
a
robot,
or
even
a
wifi
network.
And
this
was
shown
to
us
at
a
time
when
we
had
rotary
dial
phones.
It
didn’t
matter
where
you
were;
everybody
started
to
see
Star
Wars.
And
from
that
moment
on,
if
you
look
at
the
top
10
blockbuster
movies
in
the
last
30-­‐35
years,
seven
of
them
have
either
been
science
fiction
or
fantasy-­‐driven.
Before

3.
Click
here
for
Original
Article:
Millennials
Are
Changing
The
Way
We
Work,
and
It's
All
Because
of
'Star
Wars'
that,
what
did
we
watch?
Westerns
and
romance
and
mystery.
From
1977
on,
the
new
generation
demanded
science
fiction.
From
Terminator
to
Back
to
the
Future
to
even
The
Avengers
and
Iron
Man,
they
are
science
fiction-­‐driven.
But
also
[in]
Lord
of
the
Rings
and
Harry
Potter,
what’s
the
main
story?
A
young
or
little
person
uses
technology
or
magic
to
battle
evil
adults.
“We’ve entered into a time where people don’t equate hard work
with getting ahead. Instead they want the work/life balance. They
watched their parents work themselves to death, and they don’t
want to do it.”
David:
Of
course,
there
being
no
real
difference
between
sophisticated
technology
and
magic
anyway.
Brad:
That’s
true.
Those
hundreds
of
dot-­‐com
companies
that
were
formed
during
the
first
dot-­‐
com
boom,
98%
of
them
were
started
by
young
people
who
were
born
around
1977.
So
that’ll
tell
you
how
influential
this
great
technological
wave
was.
My
generation
was
taught
to
resist
technology,
[but]
the
new
generation
was
taught
to
embrace
technology.
And
it
was
from
[interactive
video
games
and
the
consequences
of
Star
Wars].
But
there’s
a
third
part
to
this:
child-­‐centric
parenting
and
child-­‐centric
curriculums
in
school.
When
my
dad
heard
about
child-­‐centric
parenting,
he
said,
“You
know,
this
is
a
load
of
crap.”
A
lot
of
parents
said
that
at
the
time.
But
what
started
to
take
[root]
was
the
idea
that
a
child
was
special,
and
shouldn’t
be
paddled
or
controlled
or
yelled
at.
Instead,
[children
are]
taught
to
open
up
their
unique
creative
gifts
so
that
they
can
find
their
own
way,
develop
their
own
talents,
and
do
the
things
they
truly
want
to
do.
A
lot
of
[kids]
were
encouraged
to
have
adult
conversations
inside
the
household.
And
TV
shows
started
to
shift
as
well.
You
had
Doogie
Howser,
MD
who
was
sixteen
and
a
surgeon,
and
he
was
having
conversations
with
adults.
90210
was
having
all
these
conversations.
And
then
John
Hughes’
films
came
out,
and
they
started
to
show
the
outlier
being
more
important
and
cooler
than
the
football
jock.
So
what
did
that
do?
It
flattened
the
hierarchy
inside
the
home.
So
now
you
had
young
people
who
were
incredibly
comfortable
talking
to
their
parents,
and
then
they
went
into
the
school
system
and
were
encouraged
to
call
their
teacher
by
her
first
name.
They
were
taught
to
collaborate,
and
they

4.
Click
here
for
Original
Article:
Millennials
Are
Changing
The
Way
We
Work,
and
It's
All
Because
of
'Star
Wars'
were
taught
they
were
special,
and
that
there
is
no
right
or
wrong
way
of
doing
things.
And
all
of
a
sudden,
by
the
time
they
entered
the
corporate
world,
people
were
shocked
when
they
would
walk
up
to
the
CEO
and
say,
“Hey,
I’m
gonna
show
you
how
to
run
this
place,
’cause
I
learned
it
in
college.”
Millennials
are
independent
thinkers.
They
will
get
up,
en
masse,
and
leave
a
company
overnight.
That
scenario
actually
played
out.
This
Fortune
500
pharmaceutical
chemical
company
invited
a
hundred
interns
to
come
in
and
work
for
them
for
ninety
days.
After
thirty
days,
they
all
quit
and
left
one
email
for
the
CEO.
It
basically
said,
“You
people
are
evil.”
And
I
have
to
look
closely
at
my
boomer
brethren
myself.
When
we
were
disgruntled
at
work,
we
would
complain
and
fill
out
our
resume,
but
we
would
stay
for
five
years.
And
then
we’d
go,
“You
know
what?
This
place
is
really
getting
on
my
nerves.
I’ve
been
here
long
enough.
I’m
gonna
get
my
resume
together.”
And
then
another
seven
years
go
by,
and
we’re
like,
“I
hate
this
place,
[but]
I
have
a
mortgage,
and
I’ve
got
kids.”
And
then
after
twenty-­‐five
years,
we’re
going,
“You
know,
this
place
wasn’t
that
bad.”
We
never
left.
We
said
to
the
next
generation,
“Follow
your
passion.
Don’t
do
what
Mommy
and
Daddy
did.
We
gave
our
lives
to
this
corporation,
and
we
lost
everything
in
2008.”
They
learn
this
through
osmosis.
And
they
are
never
going
to
give
their
heart
and
soul
to
a
company
unless
that
company
treats
them
with
respect.
“Autonomy is the new badge of merit in a lot of organizations.”
David:
I
totally
agree.
Gen
X
is
smaller,
right?
As
boomers
are
phasing
out,
there
are
not
[enough]
Gen
X-­‐ers
to
fill
the
managerial
and
senior
leadership
roles
that
are
created
by
the
baby
boom
void.
So
you
have
to
tap
the
top
millennials.
Now
you’ve
got
these
people
who
are
a
little
more
individualistic,
[who]
aren’t
gonna
let
companies
control
their
hearts
and
souls.
But
also,
the
need
for
talent
is
pushing
them
to
a
higher
level
faster
than
Gen
X.
Brad:
You’re
absolutely
right.
Generation
X
is
a
smaller
portion
of
the
population.
They
showed
up
early,
they
wore
the
suits,
they
obeyed
the
boomers,
they
listened
to
everything,
they
worked
very
hard,
and
now
they’re
ready
for
management.
But
guess
what?
A
lot
of
Gen
X-­‐ers
are
not
reaching
for
the
big
salary
and
the
responsibility
of
that
upper-­‐management
role.
They
simply
don’t
want
it.
We’ve
entered
into
a
time
where
people
don’t
equate
hard
work
with
getting
ahead.
Instead
they
want
the
work/life
balance.
They
watched
their
parents
work
themselves
to
death,
and
they
don’t
want
to
do
it.

5.
Click
here
for
Original
Article:
Millennials
Are
Changing
The
Way
We
Work,
and
It's
All
Because
of
'Star
Wars'
This
generation
is
looking
at
us
as
if
we’re
crazy
because
technology
allows
them
to
work
less
hours.
It’s
not
hours
anymore,
and
it’s
not
age
anymore,
that
determines
your
success
in
a
company.
That
corner
office,
believe
it
or
not,
is
a
status
symbol
of
the
20th
century.
The
industrial
age.
The
21st
century
is,
“What
have
you
learned
lately
that
you
can
contribute
to
the
team?”
David:
I
would
say
too
that
autonomy
is
the
new
badge
of
merit
in
a
lot
of
organizations.
Jeff
Pfeffer
has
this
quote
that
you
can
empower,
you
can
have
autonomy,
but
you
can’t
have
them
both.
And
a
good
portion
of
the
up-­‐and-­‐
coming
generation
is
picking
autonomy.
As
Cal
Newport
would
say,
“I
want
to
be
so
good
they
can’t
ignore
[me],
so
that
I
have
leverage
to
ask
for
things
that
[give]
me
more
autonomy
over
my
job
than
anything
else.”
Brad:
Yes.
And
they’ve
found
out
that
when
people
are
given
that
autonomy,
when
they’re
given
the
freedom
to
make
their
own
decisions,
they
actually
work
harder
than
if
they
had
a
boss
that
was
driving
them
and
yelling
at
them.
David:
It
takes
respect
and
[firmness],
but
it
[also]
takes
replacing
hierarchy
with
meritocracy.
I’m
thinking
about
your
video
game
analogy.
Telling
someone
“You’ve
just
got
to
pay
your
dues
before
you
can
have
that
next
opportunity”
is
like
saying,
“You
just
have
to
play
the
game
for
a
certain
number
of
hours.”
[But]
the
world
record
for
beating
Super
Mario
Brothers
3
is
like
four
minutes;
it’s
not
a
question
of
how
long
you
play
it.
It’s,
“Did
you
acquire
the
skill
to
level
up?
Then
you
should
be
allowed
to
level
up.”
“If you’re looking for “How do you cope with all these changes?’ I
would say, ‘Begin to separate presence from productivity.’”
Brad:
The
CEO
of
RACKn,
Rob
Hirschfeld
and
I
came
up
with
this
analogy;
If
a
millennial
is
the
best
at
digging
ditches,
and
an
old
guy
has
been
there
for
forty
years
and
is
slowing
down,
the
millennial
believes
they
should
be
in
charge
of
digging
those
ditches.
It’s
just
simply,
“If
my
skillset
is
better
than
yours,
[you]
have
to
get
out
of
the
way,
and
let
me
do
my
job
and
manage
everyone
else.”
And
that
can
be
confusing
to
a
boomer
who’s
basing
their
entire
career
on
age.
A
Millennial’s
coming
up
from
the
bottom
and
saying,
“Look.
I’m
the
fastest
at
doing
this.
You’re
slowing
the
company
down.
Get
out
of
the
way
and
let
me
run
this.”
And
in
many
ways
they’re
right.
You
may
be
the
Boomer
who’s
bottle-­‐
necking
everything
and
not
know
it.

6.
Click
here
for
Original
Article:
Millennials
Are
Changing
The
Way
We
Work,
and
It's
All
Because
of
'Star
Wars'
It’s
going
to
take
a
very
dynamic
leader
to
not
only
communicate
extremely
well,
but
[also]
see
what
still
works
well
in
the
business
cycle,
let
go
of
what
is
no
longer
viable,
and
listen
to
a
younger
person.
Or
take
them
seriously,
to
get
the
best
out
of
them
while
not
discrediting
their
enthusiasm,
their
ambition,
their
need
to
prove
themselves.
David:
You
said
two
key
phrases
there
that
I’m
convinced
are
the
recipe
for
survival
in
leading
the
future
of
work,
which
are
“listening”
and
“letting
go.”
Listening
to
your
people
and
figuring
out
what
is
causing
frustrations,
and
what
are
they
seeing
that
you
can’t
see?
And
then
eliminating
those
barriers,
barriers
to
your
ability
to
see
what
they
see,
or
barriers
to
them
doing
their
best
work.
Brad:
Right.
If
you’re
a
boomer,
remember
how
we
were
managed?
When
the
boss
was
there,
what
did
you
do?
We
started
to
look
busy
’cause
we
were
afraid
of
our
boss.
We
only
obeyed
the
rules
and
showed
up
early
to
show
that
we
were
doing
our
work.
And
what
did
you
do
with
the
knowledge
that
you
had
gained?
You
hoarded
it.
And
when
the
boss
was
around,
you
would
show
how
awesome
you
were
at
something.
We
were
knowledge
hoarders.
When
management
walked
away,
what’d
we
do?
“We
can
relax
now.”
Now
the
boss
has
to
be
there
in
order
to
make
sure
the
work
gets
done
on
time.
I
know
executive
vice
presidents
who
are
Millennials
in
the
oil
and
gas
industry.
And
they
[say
to]
their
employees,
“If
you
finish
your
work
in
two
hours,
go
to
the
beach.
But
you
damn
well
better
not
miss
that
deadline.”
That’s
how
they
operate.
So
you
have
a
younger
worker
who
wants
to
work
faster,
wants
to
work
more
efficiently,
and
doesn’t
understand
why
you
[may]
want
them
to
just
sit
there
for
three
hours
until
the
clock
hits
a
certain
stroke.
They’ve
been
raised
so
differently.
They
[don’t
know]
they
should
be
obedient
to
you
or
fear
you
or
they
should
get
their
work
in
early
or
put
in
extra
hours.
They
don’t
know
any
of
that.
And
maybe
they
don’t
need
to
know
that.
David:
I
think
that’s
a
really
good
start
to
give
people.
If
you’re
looking
for
“How
do
you
cope
with
all
these
changes?”
I
would
say,
“Begin
to
separate
presence
from
productivity.”
Final
question.
In
your
view,
what
makes
someone
a
leader?
Brad:
Leadership
is
an
individual
thing.
We
all
have
our
own
style.
For
me,
it
is
setting
the
standard
for
people
to
follow.
But
at
the
same
time,
being
aware
and
open-­‐hearted
enough
that
you
can
see
the
talent
in
a
person
that
they
don’t
know
they
have,
and
elevating
them
to
be
their
very
best.
And
in
some
cases,
even
better
than
you.
The
old
saying
is,
“A
true
leader
helps
others
become
leaders.”
I
truly
believe
that.

7.
Click
here
for
Original
Article:
Millennials
Are
Changing
The
Way
We
Work,
and
It's
All
Because
of
'Star
Wars'
This conversation has been edited and condensed from the original
audio interview.
To
listen
to
the
full
audio
version,
click
below:
Radio
Free
LEADER
with
David
Burkus
Episode
801:
How
to
Work
With
Millennials
with
Brad
Szollose
Click
here
for
Original
Article:
Millennials
Are
Changing
The
Way
We
Work,
and
It's
All
Because
of
'Star
Wars'
Interested
in
Brad’s
Leadership
&
Talent
Development
Programs
for
YOUR
Organization?
Leadership Lessons for The 21st
Century
Customized Workshops, Training
and Executive Coaching for
Talent Development, Retention
and Innovation.
For 21st Century Leadership Strategies,
Gamification Environments, Workshops,
Keynotes and Consulting, email us at
info@liquidleadership.com
*
Photos
of
actual
audience
members