Recently I have been asking a lot of people how they like their job and it didn’t surprise me that the vast majority said they were unsatisfied. The more I asked, poked and prodded about their career, the more positive it became. Then it dawned on me, sure there are some better careers than others, but our generation enjoys complaining. Let me explain.
If you have what most people would call a “boring” job (accounting, office job, the majority of the crown corporations) you probably have great security and make an above average wage. You complain about how board you are at work because they block you from using Facebook and Twitter but your paid four weeks of holidays and have “earned days off” so it’s worth it for now.
If you have what most people would call an “amazing” job (entrepreneur, creative director, manager at a small company) you probably have great flexibility and actually enjoy the majority of the work. You complain about how you’re underpaid and how it must be nice to collect a check every two weeks. You struggle but your passionate and an office job just isn’t your style.
So why must we always complain? Our generation is never satisfied, we want the greener grass and the internet has only made it easier to see the grass, touch it, tweet about it and then determine if we like it or not. Is their a solution? It’s an opinion so let me know if you disagree.
You need to stop comparing yourself to others. If you tell me how much money you make it’s because your job sucks and thats the only good thing about it, save it, I don’t care. Instead of comparing and complaining ever try making your job better? Possibly making work “fun” for a change? I know sounds weird doesn’t it.
Finally, I think managers in general need training on the “generation Y” employee; their expectations, their motivations and what they want out of life. Complaining gets you no where, start thinking of innovative solutions to making your job better, what have got to lose?
In some industry’s I would argue brand loyalty does not exist for the vast majority of people. For these products price is the main reason of choice. In the grocery store I have too many options in front of me, so like any other confused male in their twenty’s in a grocery store, I begin to compare prices and inevitably many of my choices are dictated on which is the cheapest. But a product can look good enough that you will pay a premium just because you perceive it to have more value (this happens a lot). Many products in the grocery store are sold because of implied value, which creates brand loyalty. Marketing has aided this effort for years, making products seem better than they actually are, just so people would buy.
Alright so you buy Kraft over the no name salad dressing, and you buy Bicks because No Name pickles taste funny (when in fact they taste fine). Marketing has done a great job building trusted brands for us but I don’t agree with buying a name brand products just so a multi-national company can keep marketing it. Presidents Choice Cola tastes strikingly similar to Coke Cola but you don’t want to be known as the guy who buys PC brand Cola do you? Well why not? It’s cheaper and it tastes like the real thing.
One could argue that the more informed shopper will purchase the generic brands more than big name brands because they understand that the extra cost supports marketing efforts not improving the product.
The next time you’re going for groceries ask yourself, “why am I buying the name brand product.”
Vehicle wraps are quickly becoming a great alternative to billboards and other awareness type mediums and for good reason. The vehicle is seen in many different places, depending on how much it is driven, and it works because it is different.
This post isn’t to decide if the car wraps themselves are effective but more importantly the car behind the wrap, and what message it’s portraying.
Do you want your brand to be displayed on a luxury car to give your business a “high-end” type feel? Or do you wrap an entry level vehicle to show the world you are frugal and manage money well? A GM to support the automakers? Or a foreign car that’s going to be reliable for years? Some vehicles are for functionality, others are to stand out, and some need to be able to hold an entertainment centre in the rear so an SUV is the obvious choice.
My gut says I like the luxury car but there’s something to say about companies that purchase an economy line.
Is there a perfect choice? Probably a Prius to show your company has a small carbon footprint. On that note, what do you think about everyone jumping on the Hummer band wagon a few years back? What kind of impression of your company are you making?
It’s growing in popularity so it would be nice to come to a conclusion on which is better, luxury or economy, what do you think? (click the links for some examples)
The gym I go to has stationary bikes with TV screens build in them and handle bars that you actually use to steer. You can ride around a boring track or play the dragon coin game, the future of stationary biking. The bike has gears like a normal bike and it steers like a normal bike but you peddle around a small village collecting coins and dragons, unlike a normal bike. This is the closest I have ever come to having fun while exercising. I hate exercising.
Someone out there understood that biking can be rather boring so why not throw in a little game to pass the time, albeit not a sophisticated game but enough to peek my interest. It got me thinking, why do I dread going to this insufferable place to sweat my heart out day in, day out with no end in sight? Why can’t exercising be fun? And don’t just tell me Pilates is fun or that class my Mom goes to is “fun” exercise, no its not, not to me anyway.
The first computerized exercise bike was developed in the late 1960’s and since then all we’ve done is make the seats a bit more comfortable and put together a simple Asian game to make peddling a tad more enjoyable? It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to understand that there may be void in this market. Wii Fit has taken advantage of people who want more out of their work outs, the popular game has proved very profitable for the Nintendo company selling just under 20 million units thus far. Why wouldn’t it sell? They took an activity the general public should be doing regularly that is not enjoyable and made it fun, seems like a formula for success to me. But what is surprising is that no one else is doing it.
How many national gym chains are doing research and development into making exercising more enjoyable? Have they ever? Or are they just trying to make the next big machine? Has anyone thought about flipping the industry on its head? Possibly paying people to workout by getting them to do surveys while running? Or why wouldn’t they take a page out of Nintendo’s book and make a video game that involved cardiovascular activity? If we made exercising fun, and I mean actually fun it would increase the number of people working out and make our country healthier.
This could change the way our kids exercise and save our health care system millions of dollars, or it could just be my fat ass complaining because I hate working out. You can decide. But if you can take anything in your life that is not enjoyable and make it fun, you’re on to something and please let me know about it!
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