The Movers and Shakers Are Back [2003]
Our research shows clearly that people under 35 adapt far more easily to the emerging social environment than do older people. They generate social energy and they crystallise social change.
New Zealand needs as many of them as it can get. Especially people with a Mover and Shaker mindset, who combine this easy adaptability with on-going learning, high technology use and purposeful goal setting.
These people not only generate energy, they create competitive advantage. As they reach that mid twenty threshold and focus more and more on maximising personal progress and fulfilment, they become an extremely valuable part of the economy, not just in what they produce and spend but also in what they demand and adopt.
The vitality and culture of our larger cities depends on these people. It's important to use their energy well.
The current generation is arguably more sophisticated, resourceful and adaptable than other members of society. But they owe no particular loyalty to New Zealand. In contrast with the Baby Boomers who got a lot from the common purse (but gave back a lot too), these people carry large debts for their tertiary education and are unconvinced about the future provision of superannuation.
In recent years their primary strategy has been to head off overseas - especially to Australia - to make the most of superior job prospects and enhanced currency values. They are as likely to see Rome as their turangawaewae as they are to have deep psychic roots at home.
To date we have done little more about the loss from our economy of up to 20% of our most valuable citizens than wring our hands about how difficult it might be in future [what with the aging population and the lack of income earners and all] then quickly switch the conversation to marvel over how well Johnny and Mary are doing in New York.
And that's nice. It's nice that they are having such a great time, but sooner or later we'd like them back please - preferably sooner.
If coming home or staying home is to be a little less like entering a retirement home and more like an extension of the richness, variety and depth that attracts young New Zealanders to other places, it will be necessary to give a little more thought to our way of life in New Zealand - especially for people in transition from youth to adulthood.
That is as much a matter of cultural expectation as it is of population and wealth. This is not New York, and it can never offer the range of opportunities and diverse cultural experiences you get there, but it doesn't have to be Dannevirke (sorry Dannevirke)..
There is a real danger that the social and economic value of these important New Zealanders will be dissipated if they have to spend frequent or long periods in other labour markets in order to accumulate capital and fulfill aspirations.Or if it is under-utilised in low value activities here.
By creating a milieu where they feel comfortable and fulfilled, we have a better chance of harnessing the power of their energy and their astuteness, not diluting their world experience but building upon it.
For this to happen in a sustainable way New Zealand will need to play to its fundamental strengths:- updating ideas of what it means to be a good place to bring up children, an easy place to live, and, most fundamentally, a place that offers if not great riches then at least, great personal fulfilment.
Given their priorities for career advancement and asset development, younger Movers and Shakers may prefer to be employees than to start new enterprises themselves. They need innovative employers to make the most of their talents.
The HOW needs a lot of work. More and more people between the mid twenties and mid forties are trying to fast-track a lifestyle that once took thirty years to develop and involved slow but steady growth, using mechanisms that streamline, supercharge or shortcut longer processes.
This includes strategies like: paying off the mortgage at an accelerated rate, career changing, using IVF rather than waiting for years for patchy fertility to kick in naturally, and, of course, going overseas to earn money.
Unfortunately for us, the New Zealand phase of this super-speed lifestyle involves the almost simultaneous purchase of housing, the production of children AND expansion of career. But crisis is also opportunity.
The current life phase of these seriously over-stretched people presents significant opportunities to smart businesses to develop new clusters of high value solutions to help them to manage home and work pressures, to have a life while also building up assets, and to put down roots without sacrificing flexibility.
Since the decisions Movers and Shakers make have the capacity to resonate far beyond the scope of their own lives, it is important to try to understand and optimise the impact of this very important group of wealth-creators.
Bums on seats are valuable in their own right, as are emissaries overseas, but we need to look well below the surface to discover their true value to New Zealand.
At Windshift, we would argue that this value lies in their ability to change things around - by contributing new ideas, demanding higher standards (and better value) and affording and adopting innovative new solutions. .
"..this super-speed lifestyle involves the almost simultaneous purchase of housing, the production of children AND expansion of career."
