live first, work second getting inside the head of the next generation Foreword by Richard Florida author of the business best-seller Rise of the Creative Class REBECCA RYAN Live First, Work Second Getting Inside the Head of the Next Generation Rebecca Ryan Live First, Work Second Copyright 2007 by Rebecca Ryan All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the author, except brief portions quoted for purposes of review. Printed and bound in the United States of America First Printing: July 2007 by Next Generation Consulting® Inquiries regarding permission for use of the material contained in this book should be directed to Rebecca Ryan: On the Web: www.nextgenerationconsulting.com By email:
[email protected] Call toll-free: 888.922.9596 By snail mail: Next Generation Consulting 211 S. Paterson, Suite 100 Madison, WI 53704 Orders: www.nextgenerationconsulting.com ISBN 978-0-9778746-1-3 For stupid bosses everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Coming Next: People First, Profits Follow: How Next Generation Companies™ Compete with Talent Puppies Are Never Born in the Basket I started listening to the next generation in 1998 when I informally interviewed1 five of my Drake classmates at an alumni reunion. What I heard surprised me: most of them had three or four jobs in the four years since we’d been out of college. This was a serious departure from my dad’s 25 years for the gold watch ethic. Since then, studying the next generation has grown into a business, and the interviews have grown into the tens of thousands.