I really enjoyed this book for what it is, and what it is is a breezy overview on how Generation Z think and act differently from previous generations and how that impacts their experiences and expectations in the workplace. This book relies heavily on sweeping generalizations and personal anecdotes, and someone looking for a more academic text would probably want it to be more research oriented. If you go in with those expectations, you would probably leave disappointed. If you go in wanting a fast read with easy-to-understand explanations of complex generational differences, you might have a good time and learn a thing of two.
Something I have seen other reviewers mention is that this book is written from a very clear middle to upper-middle class, white, male perspective, and I agree with that take. The only mentions of race and gender in the book come from brief mentions of Gen Z being more inclusive when it comes to race, gender, and sexuality in school and work places. Other than that, there is no look at how a person’s socioeconomic background, race, or gender impacts their work lives. I think this would have been useful insight to include in the book that a more academic text would have included, so again, adjust your expectations going in on that end.
I go back and forth on whether or not I like having Jonah as a co-author on the book, but overall I think I like his inclusion. The drawbacks are pretty clear; he’s still in high school, he’s not an expert on the field, and he got the gig because his dad is an author. This is definitely an example of nepotism if I have ever seen one. Jonah sometimes brings up experiences that he had growing up such as programs offered at his school, his snowboarding career, and traveling with his father that remind me again and again of the class perspective this book is written from. That being said, I think including a Gen Z author helps the book avoid a condescending portrayal of Gen Z workers. Jonah is by no means a voice of my generation, but I appreciated his explanations of David’s observations of Gen Z’s thought processes and behaviors.
So as a Gen Z reader and new workforce member, here are the points of the book I agree with the most:
- Our infamous attention spans really are that short. Not to sound several generations above my age, but I blame technology. I remember being a kid reading books cover to cover in one sitting for hours on end. Now with a phone right next to me at all times, the moment I start to feel bored with what I’m doing, I can get a boost of entertainment by checking my apps for a quick second. The cycle feels endless, and it has really impacted my productivity in school and on household tasks. As far as what employers should do about phones, I think I disagree with David’s suggestion to go the Old Navy route by letting employees have their devices on them on the floor. The most effective way I have seen teachers address this issue in schools is by being clear on what the phone policy is, laying out what times phones are appropriate, what times phones are not appropriate, and being consistent with the implementation/consequences of these policies. There are times when having a device will harm student and worker’s productivity and concentration. Then there are situations where it honestly doesn’t matter. The key, in my opinion, is consistency. Gen Z students follow the rules when they are fair and actually enforced.
- By in large, we are more technology literate than previous generations. Again going back to the book’s assumptions of privilege, not all Gen Z workers come from households and schools where technology was available to them, and I always find one or two Baby Boomers at my jobs who know far more about technology than I do. Overall though, I think my generation is good at learning to use new technology. If we don’t know how to use a particular program, we will use the internet or mess around with it until we got it down.
- With technology allowing us to work from anywhere, many of us enjoy working from home, being more flexible, and having a more casual work environment. I know for a fact that is not me. I am a Gen Z person who likes dressing up professionally, going in person to the physical work space, and being with my coworkers. Again, we all don’t fit the Stillman’s trends, but by in large I agree with that one.
- We do like things to be hyper-custom. I feel so old saying “it’s because of technology” but with social media allowing everyone to create their own “brand”, online shopping allowing for the customization of every product on the market, and schools becoming more flexible with their curriculum, I think anyone would be more inclined to tailoring their lives just as they want.
- Gen Z also is more realistic than idealistic about what they want to learn, the tasks they want to do, and their expectations for how events will pan out. From a teaching perspective, I always had to be ready to answer “how is this going to be helpful to me in the future?” on any given lesson. To get the maximum engagement from Gen Z, you need to figure out how to frame the tasks you’re giving them as something that will be useful or relevant to them. The positive side to this is that Gen Z won’t over-estimate how successful something will be, which I think employers will find useful. I also think Gen Z is pretty skeptical about how socially-oriented and charitable organizations/companies are. My favorite anecdote from the book was Jonah asking his David wouldn’t it be more beneficial if their wealthy friend fundraised money to hire construction workers to build houses in impoverished communities than it would be for their friend to fly down, learn construction for two weeks, and build lower-quality homes using the same resources. I wish the book would have tapped into this idea a little further (instead of praising Amazon for donating to charity when many of their workers aren’t paid a living wage), but again, this is not a very class-conscious book.
-Because we weren't the first generation to embrace the internet, we didn't have to go through all the growing pains Millennials did. Generally speaking, we had parents and teachers who were familiar enough with the dangers of being online, we had folks to guide us on what not to do. That being said, there are plenty of over-sharing Gen Z folk out there. They may not be on Facebook anymore (mainly because it's now associated with the older generations), but there are still many Gen Z folks on twitter, instagram, tumblr, etc who could use a reminder about privacy.
-If you want to know what a new generation of workers will be like, ask their teachers. Again, I'm biased.
Now stuff I don’t know if I agree with the Stillmans on:
- I don’t know if we are more driven than previous generations. I think that honestly might just be David looking at his over-achieving kids (who again, are upper-middle class with many opportunities available to them that other Gen Z kids don’t have access to) and applying their go-getter spirit to the generation as a whole. You can argue “but they have research to back it up” but anyone who took a stats course in college knows you can write surveys in any manner to give you the feedback you’re looking for.
- Many of G Zen buy into the idea of FOMO, needing to stay connected, and having a drive to always show off what they are doing. I would also argue, however, our more skeptical nature has led many of us to reject or question these mentalities. This is not so much of “I disagree with the Stillmans”, but I don’t think they added enough of a disclaimer on this characteristic of Gen Z. We were born into a more tech-driven, instrant-gratifying world, but because we weren’t the first to experience it, folks have been more cautious about how to present it to us.
- My experience and the experiences of teachers I’ve worked with go against the Stillmans’ claim that Gen X parents are more likely to side with their kids’ teachers than with the kids themselves. From my experience, the more skeptical Gen X (as the authors often refer to them) are more likely than generations before them to be skeptical of authority. This, coupled with the general open communication between them and their Gen Z kids leads to them often believing their child’s perspective of events more quickly than that of their teachers and bosses. The common advice I’ve been given from veteran teachers who have taught Gen X, Millenial, and Gen Z students is that parents of this current generation are faster to ask “how should the teacher change to better accommodate to my child’s needs” than to ask “what change does my child need to make to succeed in their class”. That isn’t to say Gen X parents are difficult or that their kids are more entitled by any means. I just think this means that teachers and managers need to frame conflict more from the lens of “what can we both do together to overcome these challenges” than “this is what I think is the problem and this is what I think you need to do to fix it”.
-This is not so much an observation I disagree with, but all the boxes in the chapters with quotes/advice from public figures are skippable. I don't doubt Martin Sheen and Paula Abdul have interesting life experience, but I don't see how their insight would help bosses and company managers.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and I think it gave me some interesting insight into how my coworkers older than me think and how my students younger than me view the world. While this is not a complete, all-encompassing book on Gen Z, it does offer some good insight for business and organization leaders who have little to no experience working with this generation yet. If you don’t know whether you want to dedicate yourself to all 280 pages of the book (although they do fly by), I would at least suggest glimpsing through the last pages of every chapter that include the major takeaways in a bullet-point list. They aren’t always the most specific, but they are pretty practical.