This video always gets to me.  I can watch it a thousand times, and yet it always touches me, giving me goose bumps.

The video shows how groups of individuals, working together, can resolve problems.

The fact is it makes me think, what society and businesses would be like, with a generation who liked to help other people, who enjoyed spontaneous, collaboration, just like in the video.

Gary Hamel wrote an interesting article, in which he talks about Generation Y’s characteristics, and how this clashes with a strict and traditional workplace culture.

One of Generation Y’s characteristics is the fact that it likes to contribute.  To them, the willingness and ability to contribute often deserves more respect than a prestigious “boss” or “managing director” job title.    It’s easy to verify this online.  See who has the most twitter followers or Blog followers.  It’s not necessarily the big bosses in businesses.  No, it’s the people that the group wants to follow.  They are the people who are open to sharing knowledge, questions, and thoughts.

What’s more, there is no hierarchy online.  The concept of respect is simply defined by online users. Also respect is earned by those who contribute, and not those who give orders.

In traditional business structures, respect is directed to those who give orders.

How will this new generation coexist within a reality that is so different from theirs?

Hamel observes that online, all ideas compete on a level playing field. There are no predefined solutions that bosses pass on to their team. Everybody can give an idea, and ideas are “voted” on.   Nobody has the power to kill a revolutionary idea.  There aren’t any politics interfering with the adoption of a solution.

Hamel does recognize that leaders do exist online, to serve the broader community.  They constantly give ideas, and in turn help others to come up with their own ideas.

Yet, these leaders don’t have the power to punish others. It’s true that, thinkers, artists, or well-known authors, can commit fatal errors and be subject to ridicule on the Internet, which makes them lose their credibility.   This doesn’t happen in a traditional business organization. The boss simply orders, and that is the law.

In the cyber world, resources organize themselves.  Everybody follows who they want to follow, and everybody helps who they want to help.

There is a really interesting site, where people translate texts into English, free of charge (http://adoteumparagrafo.pbworks.com/).  This truly defines the current spirit of collaboration.  Get to know it, it’s called “Adote um Paragrafo” (Adopt a paragraph.)

People translate only if they want to, when they want to, and for the simple pleasure of translating and helping out.   I was really impressed by this site.  It shows the maturity of the web and of its participants.   There is respect for these “volunteer translators,” and for their capacity to give.

The Internet is an environment in which you diffuse knowledge and information.  This is the only way you gain respect.  You gain respect through your ability to ask and answer questions, to argue, and to receive criticism.

I’ve read several books on the topic of the collaborative capacity of this generation.  The book, “Here Comes Everybody” by Clay Shirky illustrate the birth of this new society.   The book “Crowdsourcing” by Jeff Howe, talks about the power of a team, and how teams can change the world.

I really believe that young people are conscious of the power they have when they unite.  They are ready to assume roles in groups and to change concepts and the present reality.

So I wonder, what will business organizations look like in the future?

How will the collision between pre-established business values, and the new generation’s values play out?

In this video, the little boy, a symbolic image, finds a solution.  He depends on everybody.  By himself, he can’t accomplish his task.  Yet, he knows that with the help of a team, he can meet his goal.

What society could be better than that?   That is where I want to spend the rest of my life!  In the future!

I really like this video. Not just because it’s funny, but because it’s true.  It reveals a bit about who the baby boomers are, and what their kids, Generation Y are like.

First off, as a mother of two young adults, belonging to Generation Y, I must say that it’s all true.  Mothers want more time to take care of their kids, and their kids always want more attention!

Apparently, it’s difficult to make our kids hear what we have to say.

Generation Y isn’t very good at staying concentrated on one thing for a long time.  They are great at focusing in on a lot of things at the same time.  They sit at the dinner table, listen to their I POD, watch TV, and do their homework, while chatting with their friends on messenger, and talking on their cell phone.

These young people were raised with a full schedule.   As parents, we wanted them to learn English, practice sports, learn musical instruments, and find something else (on top of all these activities), that would differentiate them from their peers, when applying to Universities and finding a job.

We were the parents who went to their schools to complain about the type of education they were receiving.  We also complained about those “unfair” low grades they got.

As Baby Boomers, we would say, “We are doing this for them, for their future, for their happiness, and they don’t even notice it!”

We became helicopter parents, though we didn’t know the term at the time.  This video also talks about the term.

Even so, everything caused us guilt.  As mothers, we felt guilty about everything.  We didn’t feel we were giving our kids enough attention, especially as working mothers.

When I started my career, I worked in the Civil Construction Business, at Servenco, along with Dr. Clara Steinberg.  I felt extremely proud when I employed female engineers.  At the time, this was a big step for women.  But then the other Engineers started saying that women couldn’t be on the civil construction site!  It’s amazing to think that this sort of outrage was happening only 24 years ago.

All of us wanted to help our children.  We wanted to help them in their path to adulthood.  There are countless articles questioning if this sort of “hovering” parenting style helps or just gets in the way.

Up until today, at my Headhunting Company, Grupo Foco, we encounter countless scenes, in regards to trainees and interns.  Mothers call us up to find out if the selective process for a job can be extended, since their kid is on a trip.  Others attempt to justify their child’s absence at an interview.  Of course we have to receive these parents with respect and care, but it’s still quite hilarious.

The truth is that generation Y is spoiled.   When they get to the business world, they need orientation from their supervisors.   That is the way they were raised.  These young people accept the guidance we have to give them.  What’s more, they actually need it.  They need rules and they like transparency.  And I believe that in the past, older people haven’t understood this.  They haven’t been able to start a dialogue with their subordinates.

This inter-generational dialogue has the potential to be a great source of relief within businesses.  Just remember to take off your shoes.

By now I think that everybody knows who Susan Boyle is.  Her You Tube video has been viewed 100 million times!

Boyle was a contestant on the English show, “Britain’s got Talent 2009.”  She is a single, 47 year old, Irish woman.  My generation would say is “lacking in beauty.”   A nice way to say “ugly.”  Yet, despite all these handicaps, Boyle sang a song from “Les Miserables,” beautifully.  The video is in fact worth watching.

What does this have to do with Generation Y?

Everything!

First off, it’s incredible to me, how rapidly this whole story unfolded.  Boyle sang six days ago, and millions of people have already seen the video.  How is this possible?  She was even featured on CNN, and other widely diffused television networks.  And I ask myself…how did it happen?

Social media is truly amazing.  Somebody, somewhere, in a little corner of the world, uploaded this video.  Then, the world devoured it whole.

In the beginning, Boyle appeared nervous and awkward.  Then suddenly, we were graced with such beautiful sound, filled with perfection and emotion.  And we wondered where it was coming from.  The voice just didn’t match the face.

Then Susan caused even more of a ruckus, when she admitted that she had never been kissed.

So what?  So that was the part that was strangest for us Baby Boomers!   We had watched our parents listening to radios, standing up or sitting in a comfy chair.  We had seen man set foot on the moon, taking a huge step for all of us.

We have to get used to all this.  But it still hurts.

Something else caught my attention.  Everybody was talking about how ugly she was.  This was the only thing they talked about.  In the past, or in the present for Baby Boomers, it wasn’t right to say what we thought.  Whether in the house or in the workplace, we couldn’t speak our mind freely.  We were raised by a generation who was no stranger to punishment.  Their parenting style was characterized by its rigidity.

Why did this change?

Because Baby Boomers didn’t want their kids to be raised in the same manner, as they were.  They wanted them to have all the freedom they never had. So, the way we raise our kids has changed, and the context has also changed.

Parents look for schools that are open and that embrace difference and individuality.  New educational methods stimulate creativity.  These methods allow the new generation to be more authentic.  They are less afraid to confront and discuss issues with their peers and their superiors.

And how does this freedom and authenticity translate into the business world?  It doesn’t.  It would crush the carefully constructed hierarchal structure to pieces.  It’s a strange and obscure network of relationships that determines the real power in businesses.  If everything is said candidly and openly, this network loses its function.  People lose their power.

In businesses we don’t like it when these “kids” who think they know everything, come in and tell us that a report or analysis isn’t up to par.  Or when they simply tell us, that Susan Boyle is ugly.  Does this represent a conflict between generations?

But if we know that new generations are one way socially and another way in businesses, why don’t we adapt?  For the same reason that an alcoholic doesn’t stop drinking just because he knows he has a problem.  It’s going to take a while before these “kids,” can really say what they think, in the workplace, without causing conflict.

Yet, if all this is true, I have a question for generation Y.  Why is it that when I ask for negative feedback, or need to give constructive criticism, does it still cause a level of discomfort among you?

I’m waiting for your thoughts.  Let’s talk more tomorrow.