Setting the context

David Mills: Session 02

Analyse: Breaking it into smaller digestible pieces.

Evaluation: What is the value of the information? Referring to my post about the conversation in the tube, David also pointed out that there's a fear... an uncertainty in their words. While I see the POV as someone who's an advocate for Gen Z, I have had a missed opportunity in understanding from the POV of them. This is a certain areas that I'm lacking at the moment. An interesting point he made was that, as a parent, they worry about safety; for their own safety and the equipment itself. They could become easy pray for someone to take it easily. This resonated with me as the news just came out about a child in Sri Lanka kidnapped and murdered while on her way to a shop. In my own experience, I remember feeling invincible during those times. I remember thinking that if I wanted to go to my friend's house, it was just a matter of going from A to B. There were no other worries in my head. Now that I'm older, I can see a variety of scenarios that could happen when going from A to B. There are three key moments that struck me when I was trying to understand the 'fear';

One: When I was 15, I wanted to go to a party with some boy I was talking to at that moment. As I didn't know any better (i.e. lie), I asked my mother for permissions. She carefully said no, and said 'there's an age for everything. Do everything a 15 year old would do, and keep the rest for that specific age'.

Two: I don't like children. I don't find them cute nor I ever found myself wanting one. I will gladly raise someone else's child, but I don't want my own. However, when my best friend had her child, I found an overprotective 'aunt' in me. The way I watched his every move, moved obstacles out of the way, and worried about his every move only made me think how in the world my parents let me out of their sight?

Three: Motorbikes. Since I was a kid, I had a love for Harley Davidsons. They just looked cool. I always thought I might own one someday. Someday came, and I realised I might not really want one. I was wondering why my friends, who spoke with excitement about motorbikes as teenagers, no longer chased that dream. A conversation with a friend, I realised that it's because we've seen too much. As teenagers, none of our friends owned bikes, we didn't see the harm it could do. However, after losing a friends in bike accidents, we've gotten scared.

The 'fear'.

Perhaps, our fear comes as condescending in our tones as adults. As ignorant, as annoying, as patronising... and as superior. Perhaps, I should look into this more.

After explaining to David about my 'impasse', my next step would be to find out what is important to Gen Z at this stage. Understand the different levels of conversations that need to happen such as changing hair colour to changing schools, understanding their favourite anime to communicating their worries, and the ability to communicate these concerns understanding why their 'village' react the way they do. Other things I need to work on:

Which sector am I targeting? (Urban, city, rural?)

How to show the true face of Sri Lanka? Where is the opportunity to research?

Set the context: what makes Sri Lanka different?

How does the working environment of parents affect them?

Don't confuse culture with ethnicity. Think: Museum of Ordinary People. Keywords from David: Psychology, NLP, Counselling, Conflict Management, Anthropology, Sociology.