But yeah, “back in my day…”

This post was mentioned on Twitter by bp3bpm: Blog Post: Starbucks’ Misplaced Improvement Effort http://bit.ly/aqMPha...

I would say half the people working there were there before labels *and* knew my name and my drink. They were very willing to use forethought and customer service *before* their job got reduced to a mechanical set of steps to follow… but now that it is IS a mechanical job, they’re acting more like it, too. As the ones who know me and my drink rotate out of the store, I’ll be left with two less reasons to return – slower service, and no “personalized attention”.

IF you’re saying that the current generation is, in general, lazier or less inclined to provide good service, or requiring more mechanical steps… I disagree (and have posted previously about managing the “millenials” etc. ) … Perhaps I disagree with this argument on its face because I remember all too well being told that birth-dearthers (aka me) and gen X (apparently, also me) were too lazy and self-absorbed in self pity and angst to really go out there and do something for the world. But my own observational data told me that this simply was not the case. It was just a case of highly motivated ppl in the older generation noticing that the *average* person in the younger generation was not as motivated. Failing to notice that the average person in their generation isn’t as motivated, nor is the avg person older than they are, etc. Its post-ad-hoc-ergo-proctor-hoc logic. I see the same thought process being applied to millenials or “facebook generation” and again… i’m not buying it. :)

The other day, I heard a 25yo bitterly complain about how lazy college grads are these days. This, from someone who could have easily been described the same way when they graduated only 3 years earlier…

“back in my day…” :)

I would say half the people working there were there before labels *and* knew my name and my drink. They were very willing to use forethought and customer service *before* their job got reduced to a mechanical set of steps to follow… but now that it is IS a mechanical job, they’re acting more like it, too. As the ones who know me and my drink rotate out of the store, I’ll be left with two less reasons to return – slower service, and no “personalized attention”.

IF you’re saying that the current generation is, in general, lazier or less inclined to provide good service, or requiring more mechanical steps… I disagree (and have posted previously about managing the “millenials” etc. ) … Perhaps I disagree with this argument on its face because I remember all too well being told that birth-dearthers (aka me) and gen X (apparently, also me) were too lazy and self-absorbed in self pity and angst to really go out there and do something for the world. But my own observational data told me that this simply was not the case. It was just a case of highly motivated ppl in the older generation noticing that the *average* person in the younger generation was not as motivated. Failing to notice that the average person in their generation isn’t as motivated, nor is the avg person older than they are, etc. Its post-ad-hoc-ergo-proctor-hoc logic. I see the same thought process being applied to millenials or “facebook generation” and again… i’m not buying it. :)

The other day, I heard a 25yo bitterly complain about how lazy college grads are these days. This, from someone who could have easily been described the same way when they graduated only 3 years earlier…

“back in my day…” :)