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Future Think

Millennials on the move. Next: Gen Z?

By | Future Think | No Comments

From Boomers, now Millennials to Gen Z.

Boomers first learned they were no longer the chosen generation on television, November 4, 2007 as news correspondent Morley Safer from “60 minutes” introduced his audience to millennials.

His opening comments were profound while poignant:

Stand back all bosses! A new breed of American worker is about to attack everything you hold sacred: from giving orders, to your starched white shirt and tie. They are called, among other things, “millennials.” There are about 80 million of them, born between 1980 and 1995, and they’re rapidly taking over from the baby boomers who are now pushing 60.

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An Abundance of Choice and an Apathy of Attention

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KKMBLOGSlip streaming through cultural ideologies is one thing. Altering belief systems is another.

For centuries, bragging rights have been the trappings of identity. Bigger was better and more was a multiple of more. Money was the measure of this social mantel. It was simple. It was tangible. I could see it when I looked at my friend’s new castle or their car in the drive way.

Make more stuff, sell it more stuff, make more money. A simple mantra of pure genius.

From the industrial revolution onward, the market was seemingly endless matched only by an insatiable appetite for more and compounded by the emergence of a mid-century middle class. Read More

Strategy & Culture: Flexible Specialization

By | BrandCulture, Future Think | No Comments

Barry Wellman meets John Hagel at the Fourth Turning (note William Stauss and Neil Howe)

Concept: Global localization and open flow are at the intersection of post-Fordisnm and specialization. We are witnessing an economic and cultural transition from the third turn to a forth: the emergence of a renaissance.

Impact: Product specialization, technology, personal expression, social media, alternative conformity, content segmentation, on time marketing and product availability, partisan politics and instant gratification.

Result: The changes in production with the shift from Fordism to post-Fordism were accompanied by changes in the economy, politics, and prominent ideologies. In the economic realm, post-Fordism brought the decline of regulation and production by the nation-state and the rise of global markets and corporations. Mass marketing was replaced by flexible specialization, and organizations began to emphasize communication more than command. The workforce changed with an increase in internal marketing, franchising, and subcontracting and a rise in part-time, temp, self-employed, and home workers. Read More