Millennials have been disrupters since they were born, a second wave on the population graph that is proving to be as unruly as the Boomers who came before them, and they’ve started making an impact in the world of business.
And they’re bringing fun into the equation.
It’s being called the Millennial Experience Economy, an entirely new approach of stressing all that is experiential. It’s the generation who not only invented the concept of FOMO, “fear of missing out,” they’ve practically made it a lifestyle, fueled by cottage industries that cater to their need to post the best pictures on Instagram.
“The extravagance that goes on with this millennial generation really is crazy,” says business consultant Jim Widdon of The Old School, who is father to his own hoard of millennials. “This generation seems not to have many ‘no’s’ in their vocabulary.”
Perhaps we parents share some of the responsibility for that. We wanted them to have fun childhoods. We thought they’d outgrow it. They didn’t, they took it with them into the workaday world, and they’re very creative, which will be to their advantage for a while longer, says Widdon. “The only thing that would drive it in the other direction eventually would be the economy, as in a poor economy, but the entrepreneurial spirit and creativity in that generation is high.”
Some of their ideas may change the word. Some though, like Puppy Party Planning, may meet the same fate as the Pet Rock.