Full steam ahead

What can we learn from Generation Z to create distribution’s brightest future?

Generation Z, the first generation born into a world powered by the Internet, is coming of age, entering the workforce, pursuing advanced education, and pushing for change. Generation Z is the future of everything. In this edition, I share insights about Gen Z gleaned by listening to Roberta Katz, a cultural anthropologist, lawyer, and senior research scholar on the Stanford Pathfinders podcast. As a Baby Boomer, I feel obligated to listen to Gen Z’s members, learn from them, and at the same time, offer my network and knowledge to help them find answers, resources, and connections. I’m seeking to build a shared interest in innovating the future of distribution and looking for opportunities to build bridges and work collaboratively. My goal is to help bring about a bold and bright future for distribution and, through distribution’s contributions, achieve all that is possible for bettering our environment, society, and economy. This edition is a start. I’m dipping my toe in the water and inviting you, as a Gen Z member or someone who works with them, to share your ideas, experiences, questions, and passions. Let’s get going.

Shifting landscapes

We are in the midst of a generational transfer unlike any that has come before, shaped by the unprecedented power of the Internet. The Internet connects every human on the planet with every other human and arms them with every bit of knowledge documented since the dawn of humankind. And much more than that, the Internet continuously adds volumes of new information collected by digital devices, monitored by sensors, generated by engineers, discovered by scientists, and created by artists. As a repository of information, the Internet is real-time, on-demand, ubiquitous, and accelerating.

I first learned from Katz that Gen Zers are not digital natives. Digital technologies existed long before Generation Z and have shaped every living generation, including Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials. It’s more accurate to refer to Generation Z as internet natives, masters at using the Internet’s information, connections, and communities. They look at today’s challenges as problems unsolved by previous generations. They are stepping up to fix things, mostly without assigning blame and with a practical nature reminiscent of the Greatest Generation that fought World War II. When called “snowflakes” because they appear to be overly self-protective, Gen Zers explain: “Look, we’re just doing things differently.”

Katz offers several perspectives for a deeper understanding of Generation Z. I name them below and offer my thoughts on implications for innovating B2B and the future of distribution.

Dealing with scope, scale, and speed

It is almost impossible to overestimate how the Internet is reshaping our world, not to mention its impact on forming Generation Z as humans different than preceding generations. Katz repeatedly invokes the Internet’s fundamental imprint on Generation Z as:

One of the things that we found about these young people is that they [do not want to give up] their quintessentially human behavior and characteristics. They're not giving themselves over totally to technology. In fact, it's just the opposite. They're really trying to preserve [much] of what we would call very human, but they're [experts at using the Internet] as a tool to live differently.

Generation Z can help build a future for distribution that is not defined by sourcing, stocking, and delivering products but by accessing, understanding, and acting on information in a connected ecosystem. Doing so will accelerate the speed and quality of decisions and create radical new outcomes for suppliers, distributors, and customers.

Fixing institutions and trust

As a Baby Boomer, I grew up in a world that built institutions after a war that claimed millions of lives. We trusted our institutions because they were purpose-built by our generation. Today, Katz explains that Generation Z is living through a crisis of trust.

“I want you to put yourself in the shoes of someone who is 10 years old and has access to an online world,” she says, explaining that Generation Z experienced the 2008 recession and parents losing jobs, the gig economy that followed, and scandals in religious and political organizations. “We [grew up] thinking our institutions were relatively stable, solid, trustworthy. [But] what they’ve experienced in the last 20 years [is different].”

Distribution’s institutions—especially companies, trade and professional associations, financiers, thought leaders, and vendors—are responsible for putting the world right by leaning in to shape the future of distribution. Doing so requires thoughtful policies and programs for enabling Generation Z as workers, leaders, and innovators. (Read here for more on innovation and the power of institutions.)

Leading through collaboration

Generation Z works collaboratively on projects with leaders that are not assigned but emerge with competencies that match the work at hand. Katz explains that from the time Gen Zers were in elementary school, they were given group assignments, and that if you think about what they've experienced online, it's also all about groups. Wikipedia, GoFundMe, and online fan fiction communities are examples. When she and her colleagues interviewed Gen Zers about preferred leadership styles, a surprising number told them: “We don't think you actually need a leader. Or you can have a rotating leader. You use a leader for one task because that leader is really good at it, but when you have another task, somebody else from the group becomes the leader because they're really good at it.” In Gen Z’s experience, work has gotten done without a formal roster of leaders, Katz explains.

In my work, distribution’s most consequential innovations flow from leaning in to help customers (and suppliers) innovate in their business, then building back to reinvent traditional distribution business models. Generation Z offers a different perspective: The future of work is not about division among customers, distributors, and suppliers. All work is shared work, with leaders emerging for the task at hand as progress is made. Collaboration isn’t just essential; it is the heart and soul of doing business differently.

Searching for identity and belonging

Traditionally, distributors innovate by implementing best practices and following continuous improvement methodologies, with senior managers setting direction and goals. Younger employees, often Gen Zers, are looking for more. They want to work with a sense of purpose, embrace digital technologies, and help solve society’s problems. But there’s a problem. Most often, they work alone without access to a community of like-minded innovators at distribution companies. Similarly, distribution’s current innovators lack a group identity and they do not have a place to gather, online or in person. Some industry associations have taken notice and are working to find up-and-coming innovators, connect them with each other, and offer resources.

Katz offers critical information for helping innovators succeed in distribution. Members of Generation Z use the Internet to help define their personal identity as they come of age, attend school, and go to work. Through online groups, Gen Zers gain a sense of belonging. With a deep understanding of how Generation Z approaches identity and belonging, distribution’s current managers and leaders can better engage with them, invite them to join distribution, and help them find a home. Katz provides the essential insights for getting started:

“The best way to explain [Gen Z’s] approach to identity is to go back to what I said about scope, scale, and speed [of the Internet]. In the old days, when we were trying to figure out who we were during our … teenage years, we had relatively few models to look at,” Katz explains. “[But] these young people today have a world of between 7 [billion] and 8 billion people who can serve as models … When they're online, when they're exploring different websites, they are trying things on [and building] an identity piece by piece … Because of the Internet and because of the scope, scale, and speed [of it], these young individuals have more agency to choose for themselves as opposed to being assigned an identity.”

Katz adds that Generation Z’s search for identity leads them to participate in a multitude of online groups, each with unique norms and behaviors, and each helping to satisfy the human need to belong. Distribution’s current leaders must create a culture that welcomes Generation Z in a way that acknowledges their search for identity and belonging and establishes a unifying purpose that can bind all generations in the pursuit of innovation.

Foresight and footsteps

Katz co-authored Gen Z, Explained: The Art of Living in a Digital Age with Sarah Ogilvie, Jane Shaw, and Linda Woodhead. Their work considers conversations with hundreds of Gen Zers and offers rich perspectives and actionable revelations. Their work is a foundation for understanding, engaging, and working with Generation Z. Perhaps their most extraordinary insight is a roadmap for working with the generation that will ultimately decide the future of distribution. They explain that Generation Z comes into the workplace with an attitude of “you don’t need to tell me. I can do it.” If they need to know something, they go to the Internet. They are dismissive of expertise that is given without them seeking it. So, Katz and her colleagues advise that we listen to Gen Z. Because they deserve a hearing. Generation Z “can help us see what is not right and that there are better ways as we look to the future,” Katz says.

As a writer focused on the future of distribution, I must seek out Generation Z to understand how they live life, solve problems, and push for change. I have helpful knowledge gained through a lifetime but must find ways to offer it in context, responding to questions and unknowns. I’ll provide my network to share its knowledge and to help Gen Zers pursue their identity and belonging. And in my work with associations, I will advocate for projects led by those that emerge, rising to the challenge.

That’s the plan, anyway. As always, I’m looking for help. Please leave your comments below or reach out at mark.dancer@n4bi.com.