Jonathan Catherman - Becoming the Next Great Generation: Taking Our Place as Confident and Capable Adults

Way back in 1997, a struggling tech company took a big risk. They spent a bunch of money on TV ads pitching their new Think Different campaign. If the ads worked, people might just see them different, buy their computers, and maybe, just maybe, their tech would become popular enough to make an impact on the world. Perhaps youve heard of the company? Apple.

Turns out, the ads did pretty good. Actually, better than good. People loved them. So much so that the company began to be seen as an influencer. Big-time.

It all started with a sixty-second video ad featuring some of the most iconic personalities of the twentieth century. In the ad, Apple challenged people to believe they, too, are crazy enough to change the world for the better. Celebrating the questioning of traditional ways of thinking, they combined a series of short clips of famous disruptors like Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Maria Callas, Mahatma Gandhi, and Amelia Earhart. Over their historic black-and-white images, the narrator payed tribute to their brilliance with the famous opening lines, Heres to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently...

I think these words are impressive. They have inspired me so much that Ive committed them to memory and heart. Just like how Apple did such a great job of getting us to think different, its my goal in writing this book to challenge you to rethink how your generation will change the world. Specifically, you. I challenge you to discover and develop the confidence and character needed to become an invaluable member of the next great generation.

Call me crazy if you want. Ill take it as a compliment. Im just crazy enough to believe your young, emerging generation possesses more potential to do good in this world than any generation before. More than us Gen Xers. More than your grandparents generation. More than any and all generations that came before us. Combined. Dont believe me? Please read on and Ill do my best to convince you. Agree with me? Read on and well do our best to convince doubters that you can meet and exceed the successes of all the famous disruptors history now calls geniuses.

For you to become the kind of change agents who press the world ahead, you too will have to be crazy enough to start thinking different about what youll need to succeed. Specifically, well need to challenge some old and failing ways of thinking. I wont tell you what to think, but I will challenge you to rethink a few things. Like fixing the growing gap between your young and our older people. Like why stewardship will make you the best leaders in the world. Like why talent might get you noticed, but strength will make you famous. Like how to find the kind of purpose in your life that can make a difference in the world.

Im both an unusually tall person and a certified dyslexic. This means Ive spent my lifetime seeing and thinking about things a little different than most people. This also means I seldom fit in with the traditional ways most people do things. Turns out Im in good company. Most creative types see the world through nontraditional lenses and from varying perspectives. This allows us to catch a glimpse of what can be and not just what everyone is used to seeing.

What Im seeing, and what I believe can be , is your generation discovering and becoming the kind of influencers in the world that my generation can barely begin to imagine. So Im choosing to invest myself in rethinking how to set you up for success. How to guide you in becoming the next great generation. Sound a bit crazy? Good. What did Apple say just before totally transforming the world with their technology?

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Care to join me?

Jonathan Catherman