This is a piece that I wrote together with my dear friend Hannes Leroy who last year finished his PhD on authentic leadership.

There exist many different labels for the present generation of youngsters in our society.  Some are dull (Y or Z because they come after X), some are clear like Millennials, some focus on the present society (Generation R, with the R of Recession). One of our favourite labels for this generation, born in the nineties, growing up in the new Millennium, resembles generation Y: Generation Why. This label we propose hides an important shift in society that you’d better be part of, a shift to an economy of meaning.

Generation Y or Why?

We think Generation Why is very suitable to highlight one of the main characteristics of the present students and workers: it’s the question these youngsters quite literally are asking over and over again: WHY?!. Others often perceive it as questioning the authority of parents, teachers and bosses.  But is this really the case? Think about the idignatos or the occupy-movement. These groups are not anti-authoritarian, but rather ask why the present society is like it is.

We would not dare to deny that there are some problems with regard to integrating this new generation into the new workforce, but we want to argue for a different look at this constant asking why.

From our experiences and research with youngsters, we discovered that this asking ‘why’ is rather a cry for guidance. Young people asking these questions are asking the older generations to help them make the right choices. There are so many options in life nowadays, so many streams of information, that one can easily get lost in them.

In comparison to previous generations, life (religion and liturgy, organizational hierarchy, family values, … ) does not provide the answers for them, but rather they are continuously challenged to seek the answers themselves. Asking why, is often asking to help people choose.

Economy of experience or meaning

Marketers tell us that nowadays we live in an “experience economy”.  We chose products not because of their quality or even their personalisation; costumers nowadays want to buy products or experiences that they perceive as authentic or real. Bioproducts, artisanally made products, unique travelling experiences, … all of these are on the rise. As a result, many marketers are now doing their best to have their products or services be perceived as genuine. But those marketers may find it is hard to fake authenticity. With all the authenticity-statements being thrown around, the New York Times may be right that ‘“All that authenticity might be getting old.”

Faking authenticity however is, by definition, an impossible thing to do. Authenticity is movement that goes inward (true to self) before it can go outward (true to others). Or in the words of Shakespeare (Hamlet): To thine own self be true and it shall followth, as the night the day, that thou cannot be false to any other man. We would argue that the time has come to break the superficial layer of the need for authenticity in the current economy and move towards an economy of meaning.

Beneath the superficial need for authentic products and services lies a more fundamental search for meaning. Costumers want products and services that contribute to a meaningful life  and a meaningful society. In many ways this is a call for a more value-driven entrepreneurship. Note that this is not the same as social entrepreneurship, because entrepreneurship may be driven by materialistic values as well. It does however reflect the notion that to become a good entrepreneur you need to fulfill an added value in society and that a sustainable society comes from fulfilling a fundamental rather than a superficial human need. Placing values at the forefront of business success may seem like an old adagio, but one that the current day and age is demanding to be revived.

In sum, nowadays we are confronted with a generation that asks the question why more often. And you know why? Because we believe we are moving from an economy of experience to an economy of meaning.

Pedro De Bruyckere (@thebandb)
Hannes Leroy (@hannesleroy)