Capitalogix

Learning To Live (and Work) With Millennials

Simon Sinek is a best-selling author (Start With Why) and gave a Ted Talk on how great leaders inspire action (that got 30 million views). 

In an interview with Tom Bilyeu (co-founder of Quest Nutrition), he addresses the issue of managing Millennials – and why they seem lazy, entitled, and unfocused.

 

via Inside Quest

Sinek points to four characteristics that help "create" this issue:

• Parenting,
• Technology,
• Impatience, and
• Environment.

Sinek suggests that this generation is a product of failed parenting strategies ... being told they're special without effort, being told they can have anything they want, and being handed trophies for showing up.

Next, add technology to the mix.

Before millennials, interaction happened in person much more frequently ... meaningful trust-based relationships were built with time and effort, and when you were at dinner with friends or watching a movie, you were living in the moment, not distracted by your phone.

For added irritation, next add impatience (which is a byproduct of instant gratification).  

Why wait for amusement when it's a text away?  You've got Netflix making video rental a thing of the past, Tinder making dating as easy as "swiping right" and Amazon making it so you don’t have to check out when you go to a store.

Is it any wonder that these kids have short attention spans? Now imagine the Gen Z kids forced into quarantine where their only companionship was online?

Now put those kids in an environment where they're forced to realize you can't rush success, and you can't force meaningful relationships. Where they have to put in the effort and stay focused for extended periods of time

It's a story that often doesn't have a happy ending.

I thought it would be fun to ask one of them what they thought about it ... So I asked my son, Zachary.  Here are his thoughts.

I was born in 1993. When I was in elementary school, I was already using a computer almost daily, and a lot of my education and entertainment was computer-centric. 

As such, I am a textbook “Millennial.”

I use Snapchat too much, I often relax by playing games on my phone, and I am easily distracted. Because of that, I found this interview with Simon Sinek particularly interesting.

I’m lucky. My dad forced me to work hard and valued my efforts more than my results.  So, while I'm constantly reminded that I'm lucky I'm not working 80-hour days (and being forced to get a haircut every week), I do feel as if I'm a step ahead of many of my peers.

I still find myself falling into a lot of the "traps" Sinek describes – I'm reliant on social media; I'm frustrated when my effort doesn't transfer into immediate impact; and I struggle to not take my phone out whenever there's not another stimulus keeping me occupied. 

That being said, I do think the issue is bigger than millennials. It's not just our generation that takes their phones out at meetings and ignores who they're with for someone on their phone. If you pay attention, I'll bet you'll notice that you do it as well. To me, it seems more like a trapping of the era than of a generation. 

The difference, I think, is that millennials spent their formative years in this environment. This does affect the way we see and interact with the world. But you can watch each generation chastise the youth for the same things as they get older. 

    "This new generation has no respect! They're too reliant on technology, and don't know how to do anything themselves! Lazy and entitled!

I'm positive I can find similar rhetoric levied against Generation X, Boomers, and more. There's always been resistance to new technologies and the belief that the new generation takes what they're blessed with for granted. I even catch myself judging Gen Z for the same things I remember being judged for as a teenager. 

Will we ever measure up to your expectations? Perhaps not ... because our generations approach the world the world so differently.

Nonetheless, we are still capable of greatness.  We are still driven to pursue growth, to create new things, and to provide value to our communities.  It's just that we are playing a different game and keeping score a little differently. 2020 brought a lot of that to the forefront of the conversation. 

Understanding that, in and of itself, can help to close the gap. As we mature and become the main working force, as we become managers and leaders, I think you'll find that a lot of our failings were the symptoms of youth – and have dissipated with age. 

There's plenty more I want to say, but I don't want to go on for too long.   I'm happy to have a more in-depth conversation offline. You can e-mail me at [email protected] with any thoughts on the subject, any questions, or just to say hello. 

Thanks. 

 

 

Humans Need Not Apply

While we all know that pop culture representations of AI aren't accurate - I'm still surprised how often I see people who are against Artificial Intelligence. It seems that many people are focus on science fiction's dystopian depictions of sentience and omniscience, while the reality is exciting (and much less scary). 

In my office, we use a lot of what seems like "futuristic" artificial intelligence approaches to understanding financial markets and enhancing decision-making. Most of my team are technical or data-science specialists that develop and drive the systems that create our systems. Despite the exponential growth of AI and its supporting technologies, I still believe the heart of AI is human.

 

 

Of course, I'm not sure how long that will be true.  But I'd bet it remains true for the next 25 years.

The video below was shot in 2014 and gives a great perspective on how quickly automation, robots, and eventually autonomous robots, are becoming pervasive. 

 

via CGPGrey

Automation used to mean big, bulky machines doing manual and repetitive work. Today, however, automation can land an aircraft, diagnose cancer, and trade. I'm fascinated by what is becoming possible ... and how, even when the A.I. is little more than an elegant use of brute force, incredible results are becoming commonplace.

In many cases, the results coming from machines coding other machines are matching or exceeding the work done by humans. 

And it's only getting better. 

In the past, innovation created new industries or allowed increased scale ... nonetheless, people are worried that the number of jobs the internet and Artificial Intelligence create isn't matching the number of jobs they're making obsolete. 

According to this study, approximately 50% of jobs will be automated by 2034.

Personally, I believe that freeing us to elevate our perspective and do more has always been a boon to society. Electricity put a lot of people out of work as well. Nonetheless, look what it made possible.

To date, human progress has been based on the division of labor. As our society progressed, our jobs have become increasingly specialized. Now, machines will be able to break down complex jobs into simple parts and complete them faster than we can. 

So, yes, the same technology that's currently creating opportunities could eventually put you out of a job ... but it also creates an opportunity for something new.

There's a lot of change coming, and that can be scary, but there's reason to be excited as well.

We live in a golden era of innovation, and we have longer life expectancies than ever before. Humans are immensely adaptable, and I'm sure we'll continue to grow to meet the challenges and opportunities we face. 

The reality is, we've been working symbiotically with "machines" since the very beginning.  Our definition of a "machine" simply continues to improve. It's fractal, and each time the technology we're adopting gets bigger, so does the eventual positive effect on day-to-day life. 

AI adoption is a big step, but the positive effect it can have on our lives is astronomical. 

Onwards!

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - July 11th, 2021

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• Video: Richard Branson's Space Flight Takes Off. (Flipboard)
• Bezos and Branson are Going To Space! Or Maybe Not. (Wired)
• Kosher Lab-Grown Pork from Israel's Growing Cultured Meat Sector. (JPost)
• Death Rates are Declining For Many Common Cancers In the U.S., Report Finds. (StatNews)
• How a Lizard's Venom Inspired the Promising Weight Loss Drug Wegovy. (Vox)

 

Trading Links:

• The Meme Stock Trade is Far From Over. What Investors Need To Know. (Barrons)
• 7 Upcoming IPOs To Watch In the Second Half of 2021. (BankRate)
• For the First Time, the Fed Flags Crypto Prices as a National Financial Risk. (Fortune)
• The S&P 500 Could Drop Sharply in the 3rd Quarter as the '5 P's' Pressure Markets, Bank of America Says. (Markets)
• Shaquille O'Neal Shuts Down the Internet with His Financial Portfolio, Owns Forever 21, Elvis Presley, and Much More. (ABS)

 

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - June 27th, 2021

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• Why is Cognitive Flexibility Important and How Can You Improve It? (WEForum)
• The Perfect Number of Hours to Work Every Day? Five. (Wired)
• Artist Sells Invisible Sculpture for Over $18K. (NYPost)
• Check Out the Rotation of the Earth from a Whole New Perspective. (Flipboard)
• CRISPR Injected into the Blood Treats a Genetic Disease for First Time. (ScienceMag)

 

 

Trading Links:

• The Global IPO Market Has Never Been Hotter Than It is Right Now. (Bloomberg)
• Banks Will Double Their Capital Return After Successful Stress Test, No. 1 Analyst Mayo Says. (CNBC)
• Hotels and Restaurants' Rebound Summer Held Back by Shortages of Everything. (Wall Street Journal)
• Feds Accelerating Crypto World Crackdown. (FoxBusiness)
• Virgin Galactic Gets Official Clearance to Start Flying Paying Customers to Space. (Gizmodo)

 

I'm Going to Be a Grandpa

Happy Father's Day!

Both of my children are adults now. It's strange to consider them fully-functioning autonomous adults – because I remember their childhood like it was yesterday (like worrying whether the soft spot on their heads would ever fill in and harden up, or if they'd ever stop sleeping with a nightlight). 

Today, they're men doing great things ... and I get to watch and be proud of them.  I also get to be proud of my role in their growth and proud of passing down the wisdom of my dad, and his father, and the rest who came before me.

I also get to be excited because my oldest is about to have a child. Meaning the chain of education continues, and the wisdom of each generation builds upon and becomes greater than the last. 

Three Generations of Getsons

As I come to grips with becoming a grandpa, I think about my children's grandpa – my father.

It has been over 20 years since my father died ... Crazy how time flies! He was my best friend and an amazing mentor. His vision for what I could become helped shape and inform my goals, my accomplishments, and yes, me.

For example, after winning the State Championship in the shot put, my dad came down from the stands onto the field.  He hugged me and told me that he knew I could do it. Then, he looked deeply into my eyes and asked whether I was a little disappointed?  "Disappointed?" I asked. "But, Dad, I won."  He looked at me and said, "Winning is great ... but you didn't throw a personal best."   He was proud, and he loved me.   He recognized that winning was important ... but he wanted to remind me that the other throwers weren't my real competition.  

In life, to be and do your best, the competition is really with yourself; and we both knew I could do better.

My Dad believed in setting high standards.  He taught me that most people's lives are defined by their minimum standards.  Why?  Because once those standards get met, it is easy to get distracted or complacent.

One of his favorite sayings was, "The difference between good and great is infinitesimal."  This applies to many things. For example, people who are good take advantage of opportunities; people who are great create them. 

As time goes on, I recognize how much of my Dad is in me. And, likewise, how much his father was a part of him ... and how parts of all of us have somehow become a part of my children. 

Many of the lessons he taught me became the lessons I taught my children - and my company. It's easy to focus on the big stories and the big lessons – but as I look back and consider what had the biggest impact, it was what happened in between ... It was his incredibly consistent and unconditional love and his focus on what was possible.

The standards I hold people to are high, and it can be tough for them to meet those standards.  Hopefully, they understand that it's because I love them (as my dad loved me) and that I see the greatness in them and available to them.

I like to think each generation becomes better (as people and parents) due to the cumulative experience of the generations that came before them. 

We stand on the shoulders of giants. 

I look forward to seeing how my grandchildren turn out, and how little pieces of me and their great-grandfather show up. 

Hope you had a great Father's Day weekend.

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - June 13th, 2021

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• Blue Origin Auctions Seat on First Spaceflight with Jeff Bezos for $28 Million. (CNBC)
• This is Why There are No Mosquitoes at Disney World. (Hunker)
• There's a Stark Red-Blue Divide When It Comes to States' Vaccination Rates. (NPR)
• Vladimir Putin's Time in Power, Compared to Other World Leaders. (Barrons)
• He's Heckled Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. Now He's the First Fan in the NBA Hall of Fame. (Vice)

 

Trading Links:

• G7 Leaders to Announce Plan to Phase Out Gasoline Cars. (Axios)
• UN Says Cost of Food at Highest Level in Over a Decade. (BBC)
• The Perfect Storm Making Everything You Need More Expensive. (CNN)
• Inflation Scare? Look At This Chart Before Freaking Out. (MarketWatch)
• Nvidia CEO: We're Moving Towards a Crypto Metaverse. (Decrypt)

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - June 6th, 2021

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• Benevolent Bots Are Suckers – Why A.I. Should Be Afraid of Us. (NYT)
• Microsoft's First GPT-3 Product Hints at the Commercial Future of OpenAI. (TheNextWeb)
• Netflix Secret Codes: How to Access Hidden TV Shows and Movies on Service. (Independent)
• Physics' Greatest Mystery: Michio Kaku Explains the God Equation. (BigThink)
• Scientists Gene Edit Mice to Live 23 Percent Longer. (Futurism)

 

 

Trading Links:

• Where Did 1.5 Million Cable Customers Go Last Quarter? Here. (MotleyFool)
• Technology Changes - But Fear and Greed Never Do. (HowardLindzon)
• Higher Interest Rates Would Be Good for the Country, Treasury Secretary Yellen Says. (CNBC)
• A Stealthy Growth Correction. (HumbleStudentOfTheMarkets)
• The Future of Money: The Digital Currency Revolution is Here, and May Sweep Away 5,000 Years of Monetary History. (Globe&Mail)

 

 

 

Make News Beautiful Again

My mother watches the news religiously. To her credit, she watches a variety of sources and creates her own takeaways based on them. Regardless, there's a common theme in all the sources she watched – they focus on fear or shock-inducing stories with a negative bias. As you might guess, I hear it when I talk with her.

While I value being informed, I also value things that nourish or make you stronger (as opposed to things that make you weak or less hopeful).

Negativity Sells. 

Sure, news sources throw in the occasional feel-good story as a pattern interrupt ... but their focus skews negative.  History shows that stories about improvement or the things that work simply don't grab eyeballs, attention, or ratings consistently.

The reality is that negativity sells. If everything were great all the time, people wouldn't need to buy as many products, they wouldn't need to watch the news, and this cycle wouldn't continue.

It's worth acknowledging and understanding the perils our society is facing, but it's also worth focusing on the ways humanity is expanding and improving.

As a brief respite from the unending doom and gloom of mainstream media, Information Is Beautiful has a section of their site focused on "Beautiful News".

It's a collection of simple data visualizations for positive trends, it's updated daily, and can be sorted by topic.

 

Beautiful News via Information Is Beautiful

If you're looking for more "good news", here's a list of 10 sources focusing on good news. 

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - May 23rd, 2021

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• Clearly AI is Going To Win. How People are Going To Adjust is a Fascinating Problem'. (3QuarksDaily)
• How AI-Powered Ships Can Help Us Collect Valuable Data About the Ocean. (ThePrint)
• How the Personal Computer Broke the Human Body. (Vice)
• How Jewish is Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah? A Forward Investigation in 9 Verses. (Forward)
• The 5-Second Rule: Science Debunks Food Myth that Stretches Back to Gengis Khan. (Inverse)

 

Trading Links:

• More Investors Than Ever are Borrowing To Buy Stocks. Here's What this Really Means For the Market. (MarketWatch)
• Governments are Deploying 'Wartime-Like' Efforts to Win the Global Semiconductor Race. (CNBC)
• Space Inc: 10,000 Companies, $4T Value ... and 52% American. (Forbes)
• The Pandemic Changed Where Americans Live. (Wall Street Journal)
• The Billionaire Creator of Ethereum Already Expected the Collapse of Cryptocurrencies. (Entrepreneur)

My Recent Podcasts with Dan Sullivan & Brett Kaufman

I recently did two interviews I want to share with you. The first was done with Dan Sullivan and Steven Krein for Strategic Coach's Free Zone Frontier podcast... and the second was with Brett Kaufman on his Gravity podcast. 

Please listen to them.  They were quite different, but both were well done and interesting. 

Free Zone Frontier with Dan Sullivan and Steve Krein

Free Zone Frontier is a Strategic Coach group (and podcast) about creating "Free Zones." It refers to the green space where entrepreneurs can collaborate and create without competition.

It's a transformative idea for entrepreneurial growth. 

In my episode, we focused on topics like building your own future, how decision-making frameworks and technology can extend your edge, and what it takes to get to the next level.   I realize there is a lot of Strategic Coach jargon in this episode, but it is still easy to understand, and there was great energy and an elevated conversation about worthy topics.

As an aside, Steve Krein happens to be my cousin, and we joined Strategic Coach entirely separately before realizing we had joined the same group. 

The podcast is 47 Minutes. I hope you enjoy it.

 

Or click here to listen on: Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts 

Gravity Podcast with Brett Kaufman

Normally, I talk about business, mental models, and the future of AI and technology, but Brett Kaufman brought something different out of me. 

Brett's Gravity Project is about living with intention, community, consciousness, and connection. He focuses on getting people to share their life experiences ... with the intent that others can see themselves in your story. 

In my talk with Brett, we do talk about the entrepreneurial journey ... but we also probe some deep insights by discussing the death of my younger brother, how my life changed almost immediately upon meeting my wife, and why love is the most powerful and base energy in the universe. 

This was not a typical conversation for me (a different ratio of head-to-heart), but it was a good one (and I've had a lot of people reach out because of this podcast). 

The episode is 65 minutes. I hope you enjoy it. 

 

Click here to listen on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Listen Notes

Let me know what you think.