What is the Fundamental Difference between the New and the Old Generation in Business

Collective portraits of generations in business are fundamentally different. An individualist oriented towards creativity and innovation has replaced a responsible and pragmatic person of labor.

The overwhelming majority of young entrepreneurs are convinced that representatives of their generation differ in their worldview, worldview, and values ??from entrepreneurs of the older generation – a total of 78% of respondents answered this way. However, one-fifth of young entrepreneurs are of the opinion that there is no difference between them and the entrepreneurs of the older generation in general.

The following questions were aimed at identifying how young entrepreneurs themselves, their generation, and what older entrepreneurs appear to be. The questions were: “What do you think is a typical representative of the generation of young entrepreneurs?” and “What do you think is a typical representative of the older generation of entrepreneurs?” It was proposed to choose the most characteristic three epithets out of more than twenty suggested. The data obtained make it possible to single out certain features that are characteristic mainly of only the young or only the older generation of entrepreneurs. Also, coincidences were recorded in certain features, that is, they applied to both young entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of the older generation.

A new generation: communication without commitment

First, about how young entrepreneurs see themselves and their generation. To characterize their generation, young entrepreneurs identified the following features: sociable (53%), active (45%), innovative (43%) – these three adjectives have the largest gap in the number of votes. The second level of characteristics: results-oriented (27%), educated, aspiring to knowledge (26%), individualists (20%). We have before us a core of collective ideas about the young generation of entrepreneurs.

However, there are only those characteristics that are still gaining votes from the entrepreneurs themselves. It can be seen that such traits as purposefulness, decisiveness, confidence and riskiness (16% each, respectively), emancipation (15%), independence (12%) and responsibility (10%), although not among the leaders, but gaining enough votes …

The portrait that is formed on the basis of nuclear characteristics turns out to be remarkable. Activity, sociability, innovation, openness to knowingly give out, first of all, a person who is constantly in creative search. And this search is primarily individual, it is not burdened with unnecessary responsibility or hard work.

At the same time, there are a number of characteristics that young entrepreneurs do not want to have in common. Thus, a new generation entrepreneur does not seem to them to be criminal (0%), not respecting the laws (2%), patriot (3%), tolerant (3%), martyr (3%) or rich (4%), irresponsible (4%) ) and immoral (4%).

Also, young entrepreneurs themselves do not seek to define their generation as altruistic (5%), experienced (5%), pragmatic (6%) and aggressive (6%), as well as striving for profit (7%), socially responsible (7%) and hardworking (7%). Several plots are read in this group of rejected characteristics. On the one hand, a young entrepreneur avoids relations with the state in all forms from crime and illegality to patriotism and social responsibility. On the other hand, all kinds of social burdens are rejected – both in the form of tolerance and the role of a martyr and in the form of altruism and hard work. And this is despite the fact that in the first place in their characteristics they put sociability. And they do not consider themselves irresponsible – it is just responsibility for something else.

The older generation: experience and hard work

The study participants endowed the older generation of entrepreneurs with the following traits – these are people, first of all, experienced (51%) and responsible (31%) – the two most popular characteristics. A group of traits is gaining slightly fewer votes: result-oriented (26%), sociable (24%), pragmatic (22%) and hardworking (22%). This is how the core of collective ideas about the older generation of entrepreneurs looks through the eyes of young entrepreneurs.

The “third echelon” of traits of the older generation of entrepreneurs has already collected noticeably fewer votes, but it must also be taken into account: patriots (17%), individualists (16%), risky (16%), decisive and confident (16%), educated those seeking knowledge (15%), straightforward (13%), rich (13%), independent (12%), aggressive (10%), active (10%) and criminal (10%).

As a result, we have a portrait of a responsible labor person who relies not so much on knowledge and innovation as on experience, pragmatism and hard work. And individualism in this portrait is not at all the main thing; responsibility outweighs it.

It is interesting to see what the younger generation denies to the older generation. It does not seem tolerant (2%), irresponsible (2%), unhappy, martyr (4%), altruist (4%), liberated (4%), innovative (4%), socially responsible (4%), immoral, immoral (5%), not respecting the laws (7%), purposeful (8%) and striving for profit (9%). In most of these features, the ideas about the older generation of entrepreneurs coincide with the ideas about the younger generation of entrepreneurs, with the exception of such features as “innovative”, “liberated” and “purposeful”.

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