----- Original Message ----- From: "Miriam Nelson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Mike Gurstein" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2001 8:27 AM Subject: Column:DF: Generation Hexed > CONNECTIONS: July 2001 > > Generation Hexed > > By David Forrest > > � David Forrest, July 2001 > > Recent dot-com failures and layoffs will leave more than devastated stock > markets in their wake. Online commerce is destined to continue, but the > failing fortunes of this new breed of wacky, zany and creative Internet > companies will likely mark the end of a generational experiment in changing > the world. > > There are echoes of an earlier time in the enthusiasms, excesses and > rhetoric of the dot-com start-ups. Rejection of established institutions and > the creation of a counterculture based on personal freedom, creativity, new > forms of community, and control over one's own life are themes that resonate > from the experiences of another generation in the 1960s. > > Quoted in The New Republic last January, recent Harvard Business School > Graduate Phil Buchanan summed up the spirit of the dot-com experiment in > words that recall Haight Ashbury's Summer of Love. "It was as if people were > talking about a social movement when they talked about e-commerce and the > Internet. You would literally hear people say, 'I have to go to Silicon > Valley and be part of this because I don't want to have to answer my > grandchildren's Where were you when everything changed? and say I was > working at some boring old-economy company in the Northeast.'" > > Generation X - born between 1961 and 1981 - the 13th generation in the > United States, has inherited a period in history when change is constant, > careers uncertain and security elusive. Faced with fewer options than their > parents, and a life with no guarantees, many have become risk takers. A 1993 > study conducted by Marquette University and the University of Michigan found > that 70 percent of new business start-ups were created by entrepreneurs > between the ages of 25 and 34. > > The gulf between Generation X and its parents' generation is profound. "No > other generation in living memory has come of age with such a sense of > social distance - of adults doing so little for them and expecting so little > from them," William Strauss and Neil Howe said in their book Generations: > The History of America's Future, published in 1991. > > A Time magazine article published in 1997 reported the results of a survey > conducted by the Center for Policy Alternatives, a Washington think tank: > "72% of 18-24-year-olds believe this generation 'has an important voice, but > no one seems to hear it.' Asked how older generations viewed them, their top > answers were 'lazy,' 'confused' and 'unfocused.' Asked how they saw > themselves, they replied 'ambitious,' 'determined' and 'independent.'" > > The creative frenzy of dot-com experimentation presented a unique > opportunity for Gen Xers to actualize their ambition, determination and > independence - creating a casual, fluid and high-energy workplace that was > radically different from anything seen before in traditional companies. The > hallmark of these new economy ventures was their sheer youth and boundless > creativity. Twenty- and thirtysomethings with visionary ideas had a real > shot at unlimited riches. More often than not, they succeeded. Just as > important in their own eyes, they had fun. > > Most of these companies spent lavishly and never made money. And while the > establishment enthusiastically bought into the dot-com field of dreams, in > the end it had less enthusiasm for risk and more interest in collecting the > promised returns on its investments. This February the New York Times > reported that the Nasdaq 100 was still trading "at 811 times the combined > earnings of the companies in the index." > > While market reaction was long delayed, it finally came with a vengeance. > According to the Washington Post, venture capital funding for Internet > companies fell 45 percent last year, representing a drop of $6.5 billion. > Hundreds of companies have closed, laying off tens of thousands of workers. > It's been a very hard landing and a tough adjustment for a generation of > workers who felt they had touched the Holy Grail. As in the 1960s, it > appears that the expected revolution will never materialize. > > "Last year 80 percent of the technical jobs were creative, new. Now it's, > like, 80 percent practical," Paul Villella, president of HireStrategy.com, > was quoted as saying in a recent Washington Post article. "We've seen a > complete reversal in the job market. It's not fun, innovative stuff anymore. > It's more 'we-gotta-get-it-done and make-it-work' type work." > > The dot-com experiment is over and the signs of retrenchment are growing. > Bricks-and-mortar companies look more attractive these days, and new economy > revolutionaries are returning to more traditional jobs. Many will take their > Internet skills back to mainstream companies, helping them to adapt to a > more slowly evolving online world. It's not the dream they fought for, and > there's little likelihood now of windfall gains. > > Writing in The New Republic last January, Michelle Goldberg summed up their > predicament. "Many of my friends are out of work, three magazines I > regularly wrote for have folded in the last two months, and more will likely > follow. I'm still making a living, but the excitement that crackled through > San Francisco in the last couple of years - the feeling that a new world was > being born, that exhilarating opportunities abounded, that I couldn't > forgive myself for missing one single second of it - well, that's gone." > > While the world won't miss the over-the-top excesses of the dot-com > start-ups, it surely needs the ambition, determination and independence of > these Internet pioneers. Society and the workplace must find new places to > apply their energy, commitment and creativity. They've taught us important > lessons about living a dream and pushing the boundaries, and there's too > much to lose if they choose instead to drop out. > > > RESOURCES: > > Business Week - March 20, 2001 - Legacies of the Dot-Com Revolution > http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/mar2001/ca20010320_628.htm > > The New Republic - January 23, 2001 - > Fall to Grace > http://www.thenewrepublic.com/012901/soskis012901.html > > The New Republic - January 23, 2001 - > Where do Gen-Xers Want to Go Today? > http://www.thenewrepublic.com/cyberspace/goldberg012401.html > > The Wall Street Journal Online - November 15, 2000 - > Midlife Crisis Hits Young Dot-Commers > http://www.zdnet.com/ecommerce/stories/main/0,10475,2654115-2,00.html > > Time Magazine - June 9, 1997 - > Great Xpectations > http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970609/society.great_xpectat.html > > Washington Post - April 20, 2001 - > Collapse of Dot-Coms Stifles Tech Innovators > http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/165077.html > > Washington Post - April 25, 2001 - > As Dot-Coms Fall, so does Generation X's Moment in Sun > http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A61358-2001Apr24 > > ____________________________________ > > David Forrest is president of Global Vision Consulting Ltd., a firm that > helps organizations turn strategy into action. He has published more than a > hundred articles on trends in business and technology. > > Bob Este <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> regularly forwards David Forrest's columns to The > Alliance for Capitalizing on Change and guests under a special distribution > agreement. If you wish to comment or ask Mr. Forrest a question regarding > one of his columns, you can reach him at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. > ____________________________________ > If you no longer wish to receive David's columns, simply email "unsubscribe > DF" to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >
