“We grew up playing Atari . . . we expect to progress to the next level.” 

This is a quote from a 35-yr old IT director (who also happens to be my brother).  Over the holidays, my siblings are I were talking about the paths we have taken in our careers and why it is that none of the four of hesitates for too long before making job changes that may seem drastic to our parents’ generation.

One of the patterns I have noticed among other Gen-Xers is the fact that we need to feel challenged by our work and that we need to feel that our work has meaning.  Very few of my friends and family members are focused on moving up in the traditional sense of the term.  We aren’t generally eager for a promotion that gives us a better title or bigger office.  But we crave interesting work.  Work that pushes us while enabling us to make a contribution. 

Unf0rtunately, our generation is often seen as “not willing to pay dues before moving up in the company”.    We are told to “be patient and opportunities will eventually arise.”   I wonder instead, if there are bosses and organizations out there who can recognize that our impatience is not about titles or status, but who instead can leverage and unleash our drive to constantly learn and to take on harder and more complex challenges?