For the last few decades, we have been encouraged to advertise ourselves, to productize ourselves as individuals, to make our presence known, to increase the value of our personal brand. This used to be the domain of companies to attract consumers to their label, and then celebrities and sportspeople to increase casting opportunities and endorsements - but now, it is expected for everyone. But, what do you do with a product that is no longer fit for purpose?
Speaking with a client this morning, this topic came up, where we were talking about a range of factors that go into the current culture. It started from the birth rate discussion, which has fallen by a third in Finland over the last decade or so and he was asking why. In my opinion, there are several key points and while most will cite economic reasons, I think this is a minor part of the situation, and rather more of an excuse, because people do not want to admit that they don't want the responsibility, or to lose their lifestyle.
However, there are other factors in play that contribute to this too, because at least anecdotally, I have seen that many of the younger generations are unable to build the kinds of relationships with someone whom they would want to have children. For most, it is they are unwilling to commit, always having one foot outside the door, ready to leave.
And this is natural.
Because commitment is something that impinges on our freedom and therefore is uncomfortable. And, in this current world of endless options, it triggers the fear of missing out mechanisms and, the grass is always greener mentality. This makes it very difficult to build and nurture a relationship, reducing key factors like trust that are required. On top of this, we are increasingly unskilled at interpersonal relationships at deeper levels, increasingly unable to take (and give) criticism well, and are no longer able to fix anything, including our relationships. Younger generations can't deal with conflict, so rather than fixing,
Everything is disposable.
Instead of making ourselves more valuable, our personal branding has actually reduced our worth, because the focus is on the surface layers, the public layers of who we are, not at our core, the behaviors and personality traits that help us connect deeply with people. To build the intimate relationships where we can be open, vulnerable, and willing to improve and compromise for another. These are skills that are required for parenting also, which is another reason there is likely resistance to become a parent, because we might no longer know what love is.
Love has been diluted.
The ubiquity with which we "love things" has cheapened love itself, it has changed its meaning from a condition of an intimate relationship, to the way we feel about the products we consume and ultimately, throw away once our "love" fades, and we find a new love - which is often just a new model, which in time will display similar weaknesses and limitations, so we will dispose of it again.
A new love, doesn't mean a lasting love.
If we aren't willing to work at something, how do we expect it to last? If we aren't willing to commit, why would we expect anyone to be committed to us? While we want to keep our options open, doing so means that we are going to be untrusted, unsupported and ultimately, unable to be a lasting part of a community, because we are continually skipping and jumping from one love to the next, which over time, dilutes our brand even further, but leaves us with nothing below the surface, just the brand we have built, that is no longer meeting the market demands.
Since I was a teen, I have the personal paradigm of "Grow together, or grow apart" in regards to relationships and, I think that we have built a society that is lacking the skills to grow deep roots together. We are more suited to growing apart by having our attention drawn away to the next shiny product on the shelf, disconnecting from each other, disposing of one another whenever it gets slightly uncomfortable - the first level of conflict. And the more we avoid conflict, the lower the bar to create it, and the worse we are at dealing with it.
The drive to productize ourselves has not only disconnected us from each other, but in the process, it has also made us leverageable assets to be bought and sold on the platforms at the surface layer, while all the value in the depths is extracted. We literally are the product and, we have done it to ourselves in the hope of being rewarded like actors playing a role - even though that is not who we are. But, when we spend all our time on personal branding, we no longer have a good sense of who we are, or who each other are, which are vital aspects of building healthy, long-lasting relationships.
A lot of the people from younger generations I work with get the feel that they don't need each other, that they can stay in this eternal youth mode, but that is not how most of us are wired. Eventually, the question of "Is this it?" arises, but after a life of not being ready, it ay come already too late.
How robust is your product design?
It doesn't seem future proof.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
