Disneyland Online Career Day

Through an online recruiting event for Human Resources and Public Relations professionals, Disneyland Paris invites you to explore how Generation Y will fundamentally change the workplace.
Disneyland Paris is looking to hire candidates for Human Resources positions with 3 to 5 years of experience and for Public Relations positions starting 5 years and over. It is organizing the Disneyland Online Career Day – December 9, 2009

Through an online recruiting event for Human Resources and Public Relations professionals, Disneyland Paris invites you to explore how Generation Y will fundamentally change the workplace.

Join us in this event to explore our HR / PR job opportunities, to meet with our representatives and to learn from Disney professionals as well as external keynote speakers such as:

• Federico Gonzalez, Senior Vice-President, Marketing at Disneyland Paris;
• Patrick de Moustier, CEO at Electronic Arts Asia-Pacific;
• Benjamin Chaminade, Founder at Generation Y 2.0;
• Ruth Bond, Director at Disneyland Paris University;
• Cédric Ponsot, Chief Executive Officer at ZAOZA – Vivendi Universal
• Amélie Bourgeois, Internet and Direct Marketing Director at Disneyland Paris.

The 9th of December, you will be able to -:

• Learn about Disneyland Paris
• Participate in online presentations and online chats and ask your questions
• Discover the role you could play at Disneyland Paris
• Apply to the open positions

Don’t miss that opportunity and register now at Careernomics Disney

In case you can’t be online on December 9th, you can apply to the position and access all the recordings until December 16th. Please pass this email on to your friends who may be interested in this Career Day. We look forward to your participation and wish you an excellent day!

UPDATE : More than 500 resumes have been sent to Campus/Buzz’n'Be which is again a good record for such an event (average is 400 …). About 120 people were connected simultaneously to talk about the way Generation Y may change the workplace. The next event will take place in March 2010.

 The job of recruiting has changed drastically. If the first objective is always that of being an intermediary between a job post and an individual wishing to occupy it, the components have evolved, both in substance and in the appeal of new approaches and practices.

 These parameters include:

 • The maturity of the customer requirements have changed significantly. If the emergence of the Internet in the recruitment process has temporarily led us to believe that businesses could “source” by themselves, we must once again get recruitment firms to use “e-recruitment 2.0” tools

• Lack of engagement, seen or foreseen in many sectors, induced by the babyboomers (and not always offset by the current crisis) and the firms’ awareness of the need to prepare now for “post crisis”. This implies greater professionalization of the customer / candidate relationship to ensure there will still be commitment in the company for when the better days return rather than to flock away.

• Changing attitudes of candidates including the so-called ”Y” cultre, are often ignored. This evolution implies a better understanding of the operating rules of these “candidates, consumers and creators of their own journey. ”

• Globalization of markets and heightened competition around certain profiles, which inevitably leads to the internationalization of their missions.

PURPOSE OF TRAINING
• Understand the concepts of active and passive candidates, talent and relational recruitment
• Understand the challenges of the job and its situation in the production line in times of crisis
• Be able to design and implement a research strategy using all “2.0” technology that would kill search costs

If you contribute to FAFIEC:

Download the program before you register:
1 – Download the request to take part
Check the “actions” and indicate the reference of course: 0172 CO 001 SEY
2 – Send your details + names of trainees to seyesconsulting-dot-com to receive your training agreement

If you do not contribute to FAFIEC, take advantage of the offer of our partner REGIONSJOB.com
Download the program before you register:
1 – Download registration form
2 – You can also call toll free (in France) 0825 825 877 or contact them by mail training regionsjob arobase-dot-com -

TRAINERS

Benjamin Chaminade
(see Authors)

And

Pierre-Yves Poulain
Elected in 2000 as one of the pioneers of the Net 1000 “in France, he joined TMP WORLDWIDE U.S. through its French subsidiary in the Advertising & Communications division, as director of Hiring Process Management department before joining MONSTER.FR.
Fascinated by technology, he joined in 2003 for the company MrTED, present in a dozen countries, providing a talent management solution to multinationals, for which he provides overall direction of international partnerships and strategic alliances. He took part during this period to in the creation of the UNESSOR (Union Nationale des Editeurs Specialized in System Optimization Recruitment), where he became President until 2006.
In April 2006, Pierre-Yves became Chief Executive of ANDRH (ex ANDCP), the National Association of Directors of Human Resources (French equivalent of the CIPD). In June 2007 he took the post of Secretary General of the EAPM (European Association for People Management ), European Federation together HRD associations in 27 countries, totaling 220,000 members. In 2008 Pierre-Yves co-founded the first professional social media offering luxury industries around the world an area of private networking, a news magazine – luxuryspace.

So much has been written already but what is happening right now and what do we need to be thinking about when it comes to the China’s future workforce?
Although China is experiencing a slow down in exports and property sales, it remains one of the least exposed countries in the financial crisis. Many hope that this will lead to closer ties and cooperation with the western continents and ideally support the IMF in the global crisis.
While many may fear China’s growing superpower, what would happen if China was not able to sustain its markets in years to come? Amazingly, with a population of over 200 million in the Generation Y age group, way outnumbering the 7% over 65’s, and 5 million graduates entering the market each year, China is still struggling to find the right talent, especially in key positions and with few top talents in the pool, the long term future of China’s leadership is still uncertain.

Mercer found that some of the challenges were to find candidates with the right qualifications, language skills (such as English) and the employability factors necessary for the workplace roles expected of them. There are swelling numbers of engineers coming onto the market, keen to learn more but needing time and further investment in order to bring value to businesses. Perhaps all this is indicative of the higher education system and weak ties to industry, it is difficult to tell right now, but what is clear is that organisations in China have a huge talent planning and development challenge ahead of them.

Having seen nothing but a boom in China for some years, the economic pressures are still a shock and worry for many there. Some state owned enterprises are facing consolidation of their huge workforces, attempting to keep their best talent, even though the government has been keen to prevent job losses. Others are still expanding, needing to recruit large numbers of people who can work in an international context. It is still the private sector that could be facing the biggest challenges, however, with increasing production costs, still adjusting to labour law challenges particularly around fixed-term contract workers, labour disputes as employees have become more aware of the rights, reduced export orders, inflation, and so on. Some may argue that this may have been coming to China anyway as it develops. Chinese owned companies have been buying their talent from multinational organisations, where perhaps employees are able to make themselves more marketable with the experience and learning they gain. Atttition rates for GenY have been rather high in comparison to their predecessors in China, 20-40% in some cases.

Competitive reward packages have been changing in the last two to three years but talent planning, attraction, retention, development and people management are all issues that need a great deal more attention. Good quality managers, senior managers and all round business leaders are hard to find at the best of times in China, so what is being done about it?

With HR functions still relatively underdeveloped in China for varying reasons, and those in multinationals having their ‘hands tied’ by their parent companies, this leaves the question about who is taking ownership of talent strategy and able to address it.

Local companies have been looking to other cities to find cheaper talent so that they remain competitive and many multinationals continue to place expatriates in China (from UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia for example). Some bring Chinese engineers to Europe for training before returning them to their homeland as well as trying to send those Chinese born and bred outside China to help bridge the gap. But there is little evidence of doing much more than that. Localisation strategies appear to be no more than talk for many, with all but a few leading multi-nationals including China in their leadership development programmes, it is not clear how much sophistication goes into development programmes at lower levels.

And so what of China’s youth? Teenage author Michael Stanat, wrote China’s Generation Y: Understanding the Future Leaders of the World’s Next Superpower in 2005 (See also our earlier article about this, in French), but much of it holds today. We all know that China adopted the mobile phone as soon as it became connected and we have visions of youngsters sitting behind their computers, playing with software and internet games, changing their gadget accessories and applications almost on a weekly basis. They are become more ‘green’ conscious and are better educated than their parents, are savvy and brand aware, big spending and entrepreneurial and, as such, GenY is still a major target for marketing campaigns despite talk of cost consciousness and cutting back.

Working with China is still seen to be a potential major competitive advantage.

“This youth marketplace is having a major ripple effect that continues to shape global business strategies–making Chinese youth culture one of the most sought after new markets in the world.” (www.researchandmarkets.com, 2009).

But representing such a large proportion of the world population, these will be the individuals that will have learnt to survive and thrive in a recession, will come to travel the world (as many foresee themselves doing) and lead and create new enterprises of the future.

How will management practices change? The introduction of global whistleblowing polices has already proved to be an interesting challenge in China where it has traditionally been deemed to be highly disloyal and career limiting to speak out against their command and control management. Our vocal GenY will be pushing these boundaries further. Current Chinese leaders of the right calibre, expected to run large enterprises and multi-national subsidiaries, with all round skills are still rare. They are often seen to be lacking in strategic thought, certain aspects of business acumen, innovation and creative problem solving skills despite many being cunning, but are often strong relationship builders and are loyal and resilient.

Our GenX in China see themselves as a friendly face and pride themselves in building their relationships and networks and many appear hungry to learn from international organisations. Y’ers in China are no less keen, they are thirsty for overseas education programmes and opportunities, and new forums to share ideas and opportunities. However, today’s teen ‘net fluent’ (or ‘cyber-’ as they are referred to there) population are feeling the pressure from their GenX parents, and stories of depression and rebellion continue to emerge. Meanwhile young entrepreneur associations are still forming formally and informally and social media is spreading.

So it’s time for China to address it’s talent gap issues and for us to think about how we can support that for mutual benefit.; there is a duty to the youth of today and the leaders of our future.

Here in EMEA we may think of China being far away or not yet connected to our businesses and that we ourselves have different challenges with a more ageing population; but with some countries in the region having more than 50% of their demographic under the age of 30 (and most 30-40%), this is also a group of future world leaders that needs to be nurtured, especially if they are going to be working with our Chinese counterparts in a more cooperative way.

So talent planning and management practices need to be carefully thought through, considering the rapid pace of change and with some tailoring to Chinese culture. Organisations need to look increasingly at ways to develop Chinese staff from within, including secondments, projects, mentoring, and other forms of training. Forms of interactive and blended learning and communications, including use of social media style technologies may all be effective ways to spread the word and all of which can be done without huge investment but needs to be well thought through. Successful organisations in China are thinking big picture, planning long term and looking to carefully select the right talent to buy in and above all tailoring their learning & development programmes. Stronger ties with universities and business schools may also be a shrewd investment.

As we always say why not ask GenY what they would like to get involved in and what they think may be good ways to gain experience and share know-how how, they can be pretty ingenious and resourceful!

How is the Chinese talent gap affecting your organisation? What are your challenges and perspectives on working with China? How are you finding GenY behaviours there? Are you developing new talent strategies in China or other parts of Asia? Are your leaders ready to work alongside their Chinese counterparts in the future?

You’ve been waiting, now it’s here. The test. The ultimate quiz to see if you are more aspiring to a Y or a boomer!

As we have said before, being Generation Y is a lifestyle, not just an age group and now is the chance to check if you have the “Y Lifestyle” !

After twenty years of research and a doctorate from Cambridge, this is the questionnaire that you’ve all been waiting for… well ok may be this has not quite been tested along with the best psychometric tools in the world… but it’s fun, so have a go anyway.

You know the rules. There are no right or wrong answers blah blah blah. Answer honestly and usually nothing can be held against you.

So answer yes or yes to 22 questions if you want to be sure not to make a mistake and prove that you are aligned with young people.

Here we go:

1. A DS console is a game not a car
2. You have a blog that you’ve abandoned after 2 posts
3. If you are looking for work you would use Viadeo, LinkedIn or Jobseeker
4. At home, you spend more time in front of your computer than your TV
5. You send more SMS than you make calls
6. You’re 70 in WOW
7. You illegally download music and films
8. You are a rebel; you do not have a tattoo or piercing
9. You undertake at least 1 hour of sport per week
10. You are unbeatable in sorting and know what to put in the green rubbish bin
11. You have 3 or more email addresses
12. You have an MP3 player (Hint: this is not an iPod!!!)
13. You put your tie on just to see a client (if you are a lady you don’t need to repsond)
14. You have chosen your company for experience and it’s name on your CV
15. You want to leave your job/company but stay a little longer because your team is cool
16. You always look for a brilliant idea to fund your retirement/car/trip round the world
17. If you have children, they come before your career
18. You belong to at least 2 social networks (Facebook, MySpace, Beebo, Twitter, etc)
19. You use at least 2 P2P systems (or if you don’t know what P2P is, no problem there is a repeat of Colombo on tonight)
20. You put your skills at the center of your career, not central to the organisational structure of your company (not easy that one)
21. You spend more than 4 hours per week on the Internet (and/or play online)

Now Count up your ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’s….

Result:

Your score a maximum round of ‘Yes’: Good result. You think you look smart on your skate board with headphones for your Pod! At 67, what will your grandchildren think!

You have many ‘Yes’ but were a bit lazy to finish it: Without a doubt, you are “Y Style”! So we propose that we set up a clip on YouTube, we ask all our contacts on Facebook to go see it, then we arrive at 1 million visitors and raise $10million to set up an album, with the product sales we can take our retirement at 25 years. Who follows?

You have a maximium of ‘No’s': So your next question asks if you know the difference between a Bajoran and a Cardassian? If you know the answer you are an ‘X’ for sure who has a little difficulty accepting your forties.  Tough but you know it!

Got a bit more to learn about the “Y Lifestyle”? Come and talk to us! We’ll be there, with our MP3, playing WOW , and looking at our friends’ latest wall postings on the other screen… but we’ll be listening… for a while anyway!

In a week of chaos across Britain as it continued to snow, more in inches than metres, and whilst our Aussie colleagues were literally BBQ’ing on the beach, what were our Y folk up to? Was there some positive light to come out of the week or was it all grey slush and misery?

So ok, getting anywhere on any kind of transport was difficult and well done to all of you who battled through to get to your destinations and to panic buy all those cartons of milk (did you need so many?!). Shame on you who used it as an excuse to stay home! No seriously, was staying home such a bad idea? What about the perils of bad weather and associated safety risk? What about all those important events and practise nights. What of productivity and the effect on industry at a time when businesses need every drop of income right now? More doom and gloom I hear you say.

Perhaps there are other ways to look at this. What about the peace and quiet to get those reports done and catch up on all those emails? Two days in your PJ’s and with your favourite snacks to hand and iTunes to play without headphones, could you breathe a sigh of relief that you didn’t have to go to college or the office and save a bit of time? Well many could see that there was an awful lot of time being spent on Facebook and online chat this week, and a remarkable number of photos of snow filled driveways, gardens and parks! What an industrious lot we are, and yes we still know how to build snowmen and other well known snow loving (?) British characters .

But here’s the thing, while many were concerned about the country skiving off, there was something else happening. A lot of work was being done from homes, a lot of team bonding going on out in those parks, offices lots and on social networks. Lots of banter, lots of sharing, lots and lots of needing to find other things to do to cure the boredom.  So, some families have been stuck at home together for the evening, having home cooked meals and keeping warm by the  fire – aaww. Homework and reports were getting written and those computer games were being played. Lots of research on the net, lots of chatting with friends and contacts overseas,  lots of sleep for some and relationship ups and downs for others. Did people prise themselves away from the computer to go and get some fresh air and frolick in the snow? You bet. Wow would that be exercise?!

There were debates about global warming, about snow on Mars, energy bills, the homeless, the elderly and saving fuel. Plenty of people signed up to new causes and many others planned for holidays and meeting friends. Plenty of laughter and plenty of cocoa. Lots of “love it or hate it” discussions about the weather and ….

…Plenty of frayed tempers. Long commutes, broken appointments, cold extremities, all the things that generally upset our GenX (and boomers) with the disrupted routines.  Discomgoogolation from interrupted or reduced internet and mobile services for some – no laughing matter we say! Many took to alternate and sharing transport, well done, and others were seen helping stranded cars and pedestrians, as postmen battled on through the icy paths with their safety shoes.

One organisation, HSBC in Canary Wharf, apparently thought about the safety and welfare of stranded workers by procuring more than a 100 sleeping bags and ordering bottled water and takeout for all. Ok it sounds a bit uncomfortable to sleep on the office floor (and wasn’t sleeping in the office a thing of the 90s before we allegedly embraced Working Time Rights and work-life balance?) but what a great way to look after staff and create an opportunity for team spirit! No we’re not suggesting that offices try to lock their employees in overnight but maybe we need to think about that community spirit and resolve to pull together to try something new and turn a difficult situation into something positive.

As one politician said, we do need to get up on our feet and get on with keeping the country running. Hear hear! But let’s also look at the benefits of this week, perhaps these few days have provided a bit of much needed respite, something else to think about, after the non-stop rush and stress of the holidays and the gloom of a recession hit January?

While we were getting distracted by the white stuff and chatting with our friends, did we also get some things done, did we have any new ideas, did we get to know something more about ourselves and our friends and colleagues? What were our teens and under 30′s up to? Were they involved in coming up with some of the ways to get through the week?  And those of us with Y behaviours, how distracted were we?! Did we freshen up our senses and call to action? 

We’d like to hear your stories.

As managers, it is time to be prepared and open minded about what each of the generations brings. Those seniors may have worked in a different era but the experiences are no less valid and they’re amongst the users of the internet and web 2.0 tools just like everyone else.

Our Gen Y need an encouraging hand, genuine interest in what they have to say and what they want to achieve; it’s not about their managers making assumptions or judgements, or ensuring these newcomers have to go through the same paces they did.

In the article “I’m way more Generation Y than I thought, you too?” by 23 year old Victoria Gutierrez, she looks at the fundamental differences in her Y world and that of her boyfriend’s father who is busy conforming to the traditional hard working career guy image just like many of the others that she perceives follow in similar footsteps. Victoria remains frustrated, trying to bring her unique contribution, finding something exciting and creative that allows her to be herself at work.

So what are these Gen X senior and middle managers going to do to bring these  groups together? How are they going to cope with the pressures of change? How are our new Gen Y middle managers going to embrace these strange times? And how are we going to support them?

Of course there are plenty of leadership development programmes and workshops out there, change management guide books and all the rest. In fact we urge you to keep investing in your leadership and think carefully about how you can do that in an imaginative way. The top companies distinguish themselves by the way they develop their leaders and think about the young leaders of tomorrow.

However, we need to think about what is different and not just fall back into our old ways. First, what is similar: Recognition, Leadership, Meaning and Authenticity:

Recognition: For one thing, it is time to be human and to find ways to maintain that community spirit and allow people to share their contributions.

Leadership: Do you have enough of the right mix of talents and generations in your team? How diverse is your team really? It is not just about legal compliance or making up numbers, it is real, without the right balance how can you leverage the best ideas? The more you put into these teams, the stronger the results. Ask them to take ownership of identifying what they need as a group and individuals to improve their activities and how they can work together in new and better ways.

Meaning: Leaders and middle managers need to use their position wisely. It is not just about leading from the front, it is about leading from the centre, being a facilitator, spiritual guide, coach, master companion and humamanagement!

Authenticity is key – make it real! Don’t live by the text book. In fact, leave the rule books on the floor; it is more than ‘look, listen and learn’ as previous generations would say; get in there and be part of something adaptive and evolving. Regardless of budget cuts, making fun part of the agenda will reap rewards. Encourage laughter, it is still one nature’s best medicines, even if the tasks at hand are serious ones.

Recognise and support those who try hard and don’t succeed, the lessons learned are always valuable ones. Don’t preach at them, ask them for solutions, they enjoy participant led activity.

Gen Y will “sink or swim”. It’s time to let Y’ers show you what they’ve got! Let them take on challenges that others may guffaw at, just allow them your encouragement and support. It is time to allow them to literally feel and sense what they believe. It is not time to ‘coach and facilitate’ into GenX trusted beliefs – genuine open minds are required and above all a positive mental attitude. Let our Gen Y show us their energy and stop putting them in boxes!

Remember, as we have said before Gen Y is not just an age group but a behaviour, it is not just a fashion or a fad, it is a new way of thinking, a lifestyle, a way of being in the new world. Leaders need to embrace it and make it work for all.

Did you know, baby boomers seem to be the only ones who love the name of their generation!

It doesn’t change the world and it’s nothing new, but here’s a small article which allows us to illustrate this. For those who missed previous episodes, we have 5 demographic generations right now:

• Generation Y (aged 14 to 30 years)
• Generation X (ages 31 to 45 years)
• Baby Boomers (aged 46 to 65 years)
• The Silent Generation (age 66 to 84 years)
• The Great Generation (age 85 and beyond)

So why is it since the baby boom, generations were given only one letter?

Because authors/sociologists William Strauss and Neil Howe published a book entitled Generations, in which they described the Amercian generations since 1584. According to them, there were altogether 4 types of generations that follow in an endless cycle. If their thesis (published in 1991) has not been terribly well followed by historians, it was a Canadian writer, Douglas Coupland, which, in the same year, made a book “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”. It describes the angst of this generation in search of new spiritual values.

X are thus assigned this letter for expressing their search for values (as if they were the only ones), their difficulty to be positioned in an uncertain world and became bound by their elders who invented rock & roll, computers, retirement pay and the Wonderbra. Then one day in 2001, a journalist or a consultant (we know their imagination) finally said that after X comes Y. Bravo. And here we are again left with a name derived from a generation of a derogatory term ( X = baby loser and in France X = …. well, let’s not go there right now).

In the series “I’m doing investigations on anything and everythign as it comes to my consulting firm”, a U.S. survey involved interviewing several thousand people on their feelings about their title of “X” or “Y”.  The results indicated that:

33% of Y would prefer that their digital prowess be recognised and be called the “Internet Generation”

25% of X would prefer “the Tech Generation”

44% of the Silent Generation prefer the term “Responsible Generation”

The study was reported in PlanAdvisor.com in September last year.

The survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and the software developer Genesys, asked executives around the world * how they attract and retain young consumers.

It turns out that many companies are still debating the benefits of investing in this age group rather than the baby boomers. 42% of respondents believe it is better to “invest in Y” against 39% preferring to concentrate on other generations while the number of people of generation Y will soon surpass the number of baby boomers and will continue to gain influence.

For Mark McCallum, Director of Marketing South Asia-Pacific Nokia, it is clear that consumers are generally very different. Yet the differences in attitudes, behaviour and believes are accentuated with Y’ers who are passionate in the pursuit of establishing their identity.
According to the EIU, the proliferation of blogs, podcasts, videos, chat rooms, social networks and other means of communication have changed the nature of the customer relationship business.
In the past, customers went directly from the merchant to compare with other local merchants or bought a magazine specialist before buying. Today, the first step is to go to the net to compare, purchase and leave a comment or opinion on the quality of the transaction. And don’t forget that marketing officials have more impact than yesteryear. Y’ers value the opinion of their peers!

Y’ers also effectively inaugurate the age of “digital natives” for whom the Internet is not a tool but a lifestyle and profession. Marketing staff need to develop their mass marketing as in the Nokia example, who added “Gen Y-friendly” elements in its products such as music, images, games, GPS or Wi-Fi All at low prices. They have incorporated one of the main characteristics of this generation to be both mobile and independent and yet stay connected and to share their experiences with their clan.

To return to the EIU-Genesys study, it seems most companies do not meet the expectations of “Millennials”.   While 75% of respondents felt that consumers have or will soon have an impact on them, 46% still do not have specific marketing strategy.

* Of the 164 officers who took part in the study, 29% were from North America, 31% Europe 30% Asia-Pacific and 10% rest of the world.

Curiosity can be described as the desire to learn or to know an object that arouses interest, an emotion that causes curious behaviour, or just being inquisitive or nosey!

Without curiosity what would we have missed or would have happened to these guys – Sir Walter Raleigh, Captain James Cook, Richard Branson, Akio Morita, Friends Reunited, YouTube, Dyson, the entrepreneurs of Dragon’s Den, Harry Potter or perhaps this guy:

“The important thing is not to stop questionning”, Albert Einstein

For GenY and those with ‘Y behaviours’ this may be part of what distinguishes them, and something that our baby boomers and Gen X need to encourage. But don’t forget that “curiosity is common to human beings at all ages from infancy to old age”, Wikipedia. So this is something we must share across the generations.

At a time when many are thinking about ‘taking up the drawbridge’, ‘buttoning down the hatches’, ‘cutting the budget’, ‘waiting to see what happens’ and ‘reducing risk’, the smart people are starting to think about where we need to be in two years time and are getting ahead of the game. To do that we need to bring out that entrepreneurial flair, and without curiosity in the first place, we won’t get very far.

“Curiosity killed the cat” ? Pah

 Savvy cats don’t get killed, they have fun on the tiles and get home safe!

To all those boomers who remember the 1960′s ‘vanguard years’, think about it – originality, possiblity, idealism, thirst for change, willingness to challenge the status quo, positive participation, communal spirit, questionning our existence – sound familiar?

 “To boldly go where no man has gone before”, Gene Roddenberry

Remember these – ‘if you don’t ask you will never know’, ‘try something new today’, ‘you don’t know unless you try’, ‘banish the fear and conquer anyway’. It’s time to shake things up again, throw away the rule book, explore those avenues, test out your theories and to experiment. Go and try out that new idea or concept, take a closer look at what you’re seeing or hearing, find the tiny chink in the doorway and see where it takes you. Don’t over analyse to start with, but peel back a few layers.  Discover hidden depths of your colleagues, friends and partners; they might know things or someone that matches with your thinking or fits the missing piece of the puzzle. A whole new set of connections you never knew were possible may be there waiting. OK so ‘make love not war’ might be a little cliché but hey it’s the holiday season!

Seriously, it’s time to pull out the resources and to create new ways of doing things, new avenues to pursue into the future. Curiosity doesn’t have to cost a thing other than your willingness to push the boundaries. Be resourceful. Time to let those GenY creatives out of their boxes (offices cubicles or whatever) and see what you can do together.

Some final words of wisdom:

“Life was meant to be lived and curiosity must be kept alive”, Hyman Rickmer

“The cure for boredom is curiosity, there is no cure for curiosity”, Ellen Parr

“Only the curious have, if they live, a tale worth telling at all”, Alastair Reid

…and we say…

Let’s go for the adventure! Together