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1. Multitasking
Almost every job posting has multitasking listed as a desired trait. While I understand why most people think a multitasker is efficient, I think they are wrong. You lose focus when you multitask. You are superficial when multitasking, never committing to one project. Your likelihood of making mistakes goes up. As part of Generation Y, I used to pride myself on my multitasking skills, until I realized this was something that was working against my productivity. And, it made my brain want to explode.
2. Confidence
Since I was young enough to understand what confidence was, I’ve been told that it’s one of the best traits to have. However, I’ve noticed my confidence actually ruin my ability to learn, because of my inflated view of self. When you are confident, you forget that you might be wrong. And, you actually lessen the chance to become involved with people, because your demeanor is intimidating. It’s hard to relate to people that aren’t humble.
3. Tech-Savvy
As a Generation almost dependent on computers, less and less people are learning skills that can’t be automated. For example, Microsoft Word may be able to identify your misspelled word with a red squiggly line, but what if you had to handwrite something (you’ll have to at some point, believe me)? Our dependence on technology to correct our mistakes and automate our life leaves us stunted to be self-sufficient. Plus, with the ability to hide behind the computer to voice our opinions, what will happen in meetings when we need to give a presentation or voice ideas without a keyboard at our whim?
4. Balance
When Generation Y is/was in college, there was/is no such thing as school/life balance. School is life and all things revolve around it, for the most part. So, why should work be any different? This whole work/life balance thing is an absolute farce. You weren’t expected to excel at school without it becoming a part of your everyday life (classes never ended in the classroom, there was always homework/studying to be done). How do you expect to excel by demanding balance in your life? If you are willing to devote time and money to college, then wouldn’t you be willing to invest the same amount of time (if not more) to your career?
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Comments
03.10.09
My take on this:
1) Multitasking- No one truly multitasks. All they do is rapidly switch their attention from one task to another. And the more you try, the more divided your attention becomes, until you spend so much energy switching, you get paralyzed.
2) There is a fine line between confidence and hubris.
3) That depends on your job. As an engineer and IT person, I need to be tech-savvy. As a diagnosed Asperger, it can help a great deal to be behind the keyboard to voice my opinions :)
4) Balance is tricky, but life will not be denied. If you don't make time for your kitty, he/she will NOT be ignored. Retractable claws trump opposable thumbs. :)
03.10.09
Multi-tasking: Too broad a term, since almost anything can be considered a task. I get a lot of stuff done while on conference calls in my office, so am I multi-tasking? Maybe. But when I am auditing an account, that's ALL I am doing.
Confidence: You just described arrogance, not confidence. I have the confidence that I can do a good job, learn new skills, etc. but my arrogance tells me I am right all the time.
Tech savvy: If it replaced a general skill-set, I can see your point. Granted, I refuse to hand-write anything because of some of my own learning disabilities, but that's a personal issue. And I've always gone by the rule of "if you don't want it printed in the New York Times, don't type it"
Balance: it's easy to write off the idea of balance when you're young, single, and have few responsibilities. Add a few years, a family, children, and other fun things like that and then tell me balance doesn't exist. People keep missing the point on balance. it's all about value, not quantity. I don't spend the same number of minutes on one thing as another to get 'balance'. I give my time to those things that are important to me.
03.10.09
Interesting that Jamie bashes work/life balance when she lists finding balance as number 4 on her "goals." Many folks find themselves more efficient and innovative when they have struck a balance between their career and personal life that works for them.
03.10.09
Multi-tasking does hinder your productivity; however, companies require it because you will be given multiple tasks at once. Therefore, you need to be good at it or else you will die in the corporate world.
There is no school/life balance because people love the school atmosphere. You're living on campus with an entirely new group of people and it's the most exciting time of your life.
Work/life balance is a completely different monster. Most people DO NOT love work; they hate it and only do it to make money. It is therefore unfair to say that this difference should not exist.
Most people are not lucky enough to have found a job that they are passionate about. Only when you love your job can you fuse work and life.
- Jun Loayza
03.10.09
Dear Jamie,
I admire your hostility to work/life balance. I've been looking for an employee willing to work twice as many hours for half the pay of existing employees.
Although your willingness to give up personal days and vacations is admirable, I'm not sure it makes up for your lack of confidence and your inability to juggle multiple projects. Since you are also hostile to typing, I'm not sure we can even find anything for you in the warehouse.
Best of luck, I'm sure some other company will be happy to exploit you!
03.10.09
@Klint - COME ON. That's a ridiculous response to this article. I was merely pointing out that these aren't as GREAT as we all think they are.
Jeez. Your comment was out of line.
03.10.09
I definitely agree on the multi-tasking. There is a great book called "Brain Rules" that shows why multi-tasking is awful for your efficiency. Although many companies will require you to handle multiple tasks, it is important to concentrate on them individually. Turn off the IM, email, cell phone, and,yes, even the music so you can focus your full attention on a task. You will get it done much faster. If you are just surfing, then then distraction is fine, but if you want to get something done, you need to turn everything else off because our brains have to expend energy to tune stimulus out.
03.10.09
I had the same reaction as Andrew above to your comments about confidence and balance.
I agree that you are confusing confidence with arrogance. Confidence can coexist with humility. You need to develop and exhibit confidence - in yourself, your positions and your proposals - if you expect others to take you seriously.
On balance - I agree that your view on balance will shift significantly as your responsibilities outside of work expand. There is no magic recipe for balance. Sometimes work will require more of your attention and sometimes your commitments outside of work will need your attention. If you expect to excel at work, and especially if you expect to have major leadership roles, you won't have a 9-5 work life. Unless all your needs are met by your work, however, you won't have a happy and fullfilling life if you are always on the job.
03.10.09
I agree with some of the other commenters about multi-tasking, confidence, and work/life balance and how your analysis was a little off, but I do agree with you about the tech saviness of our generation. I had to write a written response in class the other day and when I read it over I realized that it was covered in spelling and grammar errors. This is mainly due to the ease of use of Microsoft Word and even if we've become immune to it, we've become dependent on it for our grammar / spelling errors. This and also the use of twitter / im has changed the way we think about grammar since pretty much everything we write on those sites are abbreviations and slang.
03.10.09
I agree with the other commenters that this post kind of missed the mark. At least it did for me. You can apply this line of thinking to literally any skill. Everything has good and bad consequences. I agree with Joyce that there is a fine line between confidence and cockiness. If I absolutely had to choose, I would rather be cocky than lacking in the confidence department.
I do agree with you on the tech-savvy point. I know I depend way too much on spell-check.
03.10.09
Being "tech-savvy" does NOT equal not knowing how to spell. Trust me: older generations are not any better than we are at spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Seriously.
They probably have better penmanship, but in 6 years I've never had to hand write anything other than a post-it note. Some people are good spellers, some people aren't. It's always been that way.
I've actually become a much better speller because of inline spell checking - getting that immediate feedback has helped me learn. That's just me though, obviously not everyone has learned from this. If you make an effort to learn, the inline spell checker can be a great teacher.
@Jamie - sorry if I offended you. I was pointing out that all these things are actually, well, still pretty great.
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