It’s been two years since Live First, Work Second was released. After selling thousands of copies - and in the wake of a global economic tsunami - Rebecca Ryan sits down for a candid one-on-one about whether the book is still relevant, how different generations abuse technology, and what her mom thought about the book.
Q: In your book, you write that “Companies hand out laptops and Blackberries like drug dealers pedal crack.” You make technology sound like a bad thing.
RR: It is. Technology is the great interrupter, the enemy of productivity. It takes most people between four and fifteen minutes to “recover” after they’ve been interrupted, and get back into the zone, so anything that interrupts employees (email, IM, Twitter, etc.) is bad for productivity.
[Read more about Rebecca’s thoughts on technology use and abuse in “Please Pass the Crack(berry)” here.]
Q: But don’t employees - especially the next gen - have to use technology to do their jobs?
RR: Bonuses aren’t awarded to the person who answers the most email or sends the most text messages.
On the other hand, I have seen technology hurt people at work, and at home. Every digital device should come with a warning label that says, “This device will creep into every area of your life and potentially destroy the things you value most.” Technology on its own isn’t terrible; our habits with it are.
What’s interesting is that different generations abuse it in different areas of their lives. Boomers don’t turn off their Blackberries at home, so they estrange their spouses and children. I heard a story about a four year old who hid his mom’s Blackberry, because he wanted her attention.
At the other end of the generational spectrum, Millennials text their friends and keep their Facebook page open at work, which can make them seem unfocused, and makes their bosses apoplectic.
Similar technology; different victims.
Q: So how can we make sure our technology doesn’t ruin our relationships, at home or at the office?
RR: Turn it off! Be present to what’s important in the current moment. If you’re at dinner with your boyfriend, be at dinner with your boyfriend! Give him the privilege of your full attention. It’s the greatest gift we can give to another human being - to really show up and be present with them.
Same thing at work: if you’re in a meeting discussing something important, be fully present. If you find yourself checking your Blackberry under the table every four minutes, you’re either attending a meeting that’s wasting your time, you’ve stayed too long, or you’re being an ass.
Everyone should email less, unless it’s absolutely vital to business. Employees need to take more control over their digital lives, and start focusing on what’s important.
[Read about companies that ban technology in The Interruption here.]
Q: So are you saying that people who are reading this are wasting their time?
RR: Probably. Readers have to decide whether this is really important, or if it just seems important.
Q: So, do you follow this advice? Do you turn off your technology?
RR: Absolutely. If anything, I leave my technology off too much, and I’m not connected enough. I don’t Twitter every day, and I’d prefer to never open email. My iChat shingle is usually red (meaning “leave me alone.”)
Q: Doesn’t that prevent you from collaborating?
A: No. I don’t leave collaboration to chance; I make time for it. I hold time in my calendar each week for meetings - and anyone with something important can have that time. Clients and teammates also have my mobile number - they can always call or text me if their hair is on fire.
Q: In Live First, Work Second, you wrote that the next generation “First picks a place to live, and then finds a job.” Is that still true?
RR: Sort of. Today, our college graduates are still picking a place to live…but it’s most likely at home with their parents, because they can’t find jobs.
[Read about the surge in young people moving home with their parents here.]
Young employees have the highest rates of unemployment among all age groups. They have fewer opportunities today than they did when the book was published.
[Read more about how the recession is keeping Boomers in the workforce longer, and preventing young people from entering the workforce in “Recession Turns a Graying Office Grayer” here.]
Q: So the world has changed since 2007 when the book came out.
RR: Yes, it has. When the book came out, young talent were choosing cities that fit their lifestyle preferences, and taking a not-so-great job until they found a better one. Now, they’re having difficulty even finding jobs, so they’re willing to take a not-so-great job in a not-so-great city, just so that they have something.
Q: So is the book still relevant?
RR: It’s still selling.
We actually had a little debate about its relevance in our office. I said, “We need to start working on the next book, because Live First has a limited shelf life.” But others in our office said, “Hold your horses. This book is more relevant now than it was in 2007 because everyone’s questioning their quality of life, and how much they’re working!”
Q: What kind of response has the book gotten?
RR: Overall, people have been very nice - at least to me - about the book.
One of the cool things that’s happened is that many cities have taken the book and created a new workforce plan from it. They took the Seven Indexes of a Next City and designed a community and economic development plan around it, to attract next gen workers. [Read about the Seven Indexes here.]
Something that surprised me was the number of Boomers (and older workers) who’ve come up to me and said, “‘Live first, work second’ isn’t just about the next generation! I want to live this way, too!” So, that’s been cool.
Q: “Life first, work second” isn’t really a generational issue?
RR: According to many people, it’s not! I though LFWS was about a generational aspiration; turns out, it’s about a human aspiration.
Q: What have you done to respond to the Boomers who said LFWS wasn’t just a “next gen” thing?
RR: I started to include their viewpoints in my blog and tried to be more inclusive in my keynotes.
Q: As we round the bend into 2010, what advice do you have for readers of this Q&A?
RR: Well first, if you made it this far in the interview, you’ve obviously got some time on your hands, and I hope you’re using it to become a better person, or make the world better.
I guess my advice would be to look in the mirror and ask yourself if you’re the kind of person the next generation will follow? Because their followership is powerful. They’re better educated than ever. Millennials are a HUGE generation. They’re more optimistic than those skeptical X’ers. And they believe that they’re inheriting a truckload of problems.
To the next generation, if you’re not part of the solution, you’re irrelevant. So be part of the solution.
[Read “Three Reasons Your Leadership is Needed for the Next Generation” here.]
Q: Anything I haven’t asked that you’d like to respond to?
RR: I wish you’d asked where people can buy the book.
Q: Right. Where can they buy the book?
RR: They can download a free chapter here or they can take advantage of a holiday special Joseph & Marti designed - when they buy a book, they get a free CD for only $15.01 - here .
Q: Are you the narrator of the audio book, is it “read by the author?”
RR: Yes, it is. Funny thing…when we were recording it, I realized how many times I used swear words in the book, and I hoped that didn’t embarrass my mom!
Q: Your parents - especially your dad - are in the book. Did they read it?
RR: The book came out after my dad passed away, but my mom read it. She wrote me a letter and said I got some of the facts about my parents wrong.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
RR: No. Let’s let the readers get back to their real jobs!
Comments
I heard you on NPR, checked out the book from the library. It turned out that our AAUW book group changed its collective mind and dropped one of the previously selected books. I recommended LFWS. We discuss it in February, so I am scan this website to find other information members might want to know.
I was disappointed in one contributor saying that the next generation are not activists/political. That is really unfortunate. They are taking for granted that their freedoms are forever. The majority of the Supreme Court proved yesterday that that is not true.
