GENERATION G

Times are changing.

Most of us would be hard pushed to recall an economic climate worse than the one we are saddled with at the moment. But something else is happening; something else is emerging.

As the owner of an online business for the past 18 months, I have been overwhelmed by the number of people out there who have helped me. I don’t mean great service providers or anything like that. What I am talking about are ordinary business men and women who have selflessly helped me out, shown me the ropes and given their expertise for nothing, or at the very least as part of a barter deal.

Therefore I was intrigued to read this report from www.trendwatching.com

‘Has it ever been important for corporations to ditch the greed and embrace generosity? It’s something that countless individuals have already started doing, of course: giving is the new taking, and sharing is the new giving. And yes, we do realize that this month’s Trend Briefing is massive, but in this business climate, can you really afford not to spend some time figuring out how to get a little closer to your customers?

GENERATION G

Sometimes big events and ongoing trends clash in a beautiful way, only to converge soon after. Consider the following:

GENERATION G | “Captures the growing importance of ‘generosity’ as a leading societal and business mindset. As consumers are disgusted with greed and its current dire consequences for the economy—and while that same upheaval has them longing more than ever for institutions that care—the need for more generosity beautifully coincides with the ongoing (and pre-recession) emergence of an online-fueled culture of individuals who share, give, engage, create and collaborate in large numbers.

In fact, for many, sharing a passion and receiving recognition have replaced ‘taking’ as the new status symbol. Businesses should follow this societal/behavioral shift, however much it may oppose their decades-old devotion to me, myself and I.”

See: trendwatching.com’s February 2009 Trend Briefing covering GENERATION G for the full story.

Long may this spirit of generosity continue.