Today, my wife was telling me about an article that she read in the paper. The article had her dumbfounded. The thesis was that the Tuna Industry is blaming millennials for the fact that their sales are down. I laughed at the ridiculousness of the idea. Clearly, this is an industry that is going to fail real soon, simply due to the fact that they are not taking ownership of their circumstances. Instead of taking ownership, they choose the easiest group to pick on, the millennials.
Important Note: I am 48 at the time that I am writing this, none of my family members are in their 20’s, and none of my staff act as the stereotypical “millennial”. For the purposes of this article, Millennials are defined as “a person reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century” ( Dictionary.com)
Please do not get me wrong, I am not standing up for the millennials. In fact, I am not standing up for any group, including mine (Generation X – pretty cool name though, especially as a fan of Billy Idol)
What I am standing up for is taking ownership of failure. I want to be surrounded by people who take ownership of their failure, who do not blame others for their misfortune, who are willing to learn from their mistakes, and are ready to grow and mature.
How is it even remotely possible that an entire industry can be brought down by one age group? Is it because the millennials have decided to stop eating tuna? Is it because there is too much mercury in tuna? Is it because the quality of fish has decreased due to ocean pollution and overfishing? Are the millennials the only ones who have decided that eating too much tuna is bad for them? My wife and I are both Generation X-ers. We make sure that we keep our seafood intake at safe levels. Did the Tuna Industry mean to leave us out or are we just outliers?
Successful people take the blame for their misfortune, make corrections, and reinvent themselves. They don’t blame the millennials for their spot in this world. In the case of the Tuna Industry, they need to focus on the real problems, which are not the millennials, and figure out new solutions to their declining sales. If not, they should call up Toys R’ Us, Blockbuster, and Borders to find out what to do when you are no longer relevant.
Every day is an Interview
Everyday is an Interview 