---
title: Why Millennials are not Space Aliens
description: Do Millennials really learn differently? Or do they just expect to learn differently?
image: https://blog.performdev.com/hubfs/images/Blog_Images/alienblogmed.jpg
---
[](http://www.performdev.com//)
# Blog
## [Why Millennials are not Space Aliens](https://blog.performdev.com/why-millennials-are-not-space-aliens)
Posted by [Rich Mesch](https://blog.performdev.com/author/rich-mesch) on Sep 3, 2015 11:44:00 AM
- [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share)
If you were born around 1980 or after, we all kind of owe you an apology. Because we dubbed you a “Millennial” and we talk about you like you are some kind of other species. You see it everywhere: What do Millennials want? How do Millennials think? And, yes, inevitably, how do Millennials learn?
Let me clear the air here: Millennials are just people. Can we stop talking about them like they’re not?
Do Millennials learn differently from everybody else? I don’t think so. But there is something that’s different about them: their *expectation *as to how they will receive learning is different than the generations that came before.
Millennials are Digital Natives. They were born into a world where computers were everywhere, the internet always existed, and phones were little hand-held computers that went everywhere with us. Virtually all of them used computers in their primary and secondary education, and many used iPads. Having information at their fingertips is not revolutionary for them; it’s the way the world has always worked. Being part of a crowd-sourced knowledge community is not new to them; having access to informal and social learning is common; getting advice or mentoring from someone far away is not unusual. For many from this generation, learning is not an event; it’s something they do all the time, and it’s become second nature.
So you can imagine what happens when they come into a corporate environment and content is taught in lectures or didactic e-learning. In a world where they are able to learn virtually anything at any time, when information is mere seconds away, where a robust learning community is there for the asking—why would you limit your methods? It’s the moral equivalent of going to work at a company that transports their goods in horse carts—why would you do that when there are much better methods commonly available?
But here’s the catch: Millennials don’t learn differently. They just *expect* to learn differently. Lecture and didactic learning have *always* been very limited ways to learn. But in the pre-internet age, most people didn’t expect to learn differently, because the methods didn’t exist yet. So all those great learning methods that we attribute to Millennials are great for Gen X, Baby Boomers, and, frankly, all other humans.
So thanks to the Millennials for helping us learn how to learn. And let’s use those great techniques to help everybody be more effective.
Rich Mesch is Vice President, Customer Engagement at Performance Development Group. A frequent contributor to industry events and publications, his most recent article was *[Taming the Learning Demand Curve: Using Supply Chain Methods to Manage Your Learning Function](http://www.trainingindustry.com/workforce-development/articles/taming-the-learning-demand-curve-using-supply-chain-methods-to-manage-your-learning-function.aspx)* for Training Industry's online magazine.
Topics: [Performance Improvement](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/performance-improvement), [Organizational Learning](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/organizational-learning), [Millennials](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/millennials)
### Subscribe via E-mail
### Learn More
[ ](http://cta-service-cms2.hubspot.com/cs/c/?&cta_guid=0cabe23f-e7ea-4020-a198-11968c831b68&placement_guid=4c2f0fb4-9dd8-4120-aacc-83a009df375d&portal_id=218299&redirect_url=bBflNZ6KpYUSLaxc7e4aT6OTOnBR6a91PM1Ksf8%2ByU8QGcxmQ1z7yHb2U8BYYQ2g9I0ioDL%2BURdS3U9bPs6ZtnP%2BDQg4yC8TU59MVOEoGqvUtnNziJ/eTuTGgMou10ru&iv=BT40CgTgk%2B8%3D&hsutk=ac9460655b8a7ff7c5651977fa5b1751&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.performdev.com%2Fblog&canon=)
### Latest Posts
### Posts by category
- [ADDIE (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/addie)
- [Agility (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/agility)
- [Benchmarking (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/benchmarking)
- [Business Issues in Learning (5)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/business-issues-in-learning)
- [Change Management (9)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/change-management)
- [Client Focus (3)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/client-focus)
- [Client Management (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/client-management)
- [Coaching (3)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/coaching)
- [Cognition (7)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/cognition)
- [Conferences (3)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/conferences)
- [Consulting (5)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/consulting)
- [Corporate Integrity Agreement (2)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/corporate-integrity-agreement)
- [Design (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/design)
- [Emerging Technologies (31)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/emerging-technologies)
- [Evaluation (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/evaluation)
- [Flexible Resource Management (4)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/flexible-resource-management)
- [Gamification (6)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/gamification)
- [General (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/general)
- [Global Learning (5)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/global-learning)
- [Graphic Novels (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/graphic-novels)
- [High Performing Learning Organization (3)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/high-performing-learning-organization)
- [Informal Learning (7)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/informal-learning)
- [Innovation Strategy (3)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/innovation-strategy)
- [Interference (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/interference)
- [Leadership (6)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/leadership)
- [Learning Agility (3)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/learning-agility)
- [Learning Demand Planning (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/learning-demand-planning)
- [Learning in 3D (5)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/learning-in-3d)
- [Learning Resourcing, (2)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/learning-resourcing)
- [Learning Theory (24)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/learning-theory)
- [Life Sciences (5)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/life-sciences)
- [Measurement (2)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/measurement)
- [Metacognition (2)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/metacognition)
- [Millennials (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/millennials)
- [Mobile Performance (5)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/mobile-performance)
- [Onboarding (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/onboarding)
- [Organizational Change (11)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/organizational-change)
- [Organizational Learning (11)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/organizational-learning)
- [Performance Improvement (58)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/performance-improvement)
- [Product Launch (4)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/product-launch)
- [Retroactive Interference (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/retroactive-interference)
- [ROI (3)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/roi)
- [Sales Training (6)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/sales-training)
- [Scrum (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/scrum)
- [Series (42)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/series)
- [Simulation (12)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/simulation)
- [Social Media (5)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/social-media)
- [Stakeholder Management (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/stakeholder-management)
- [Storytelling (7)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/storytelling)
- [Talent Management (4)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/talent-management)
- [Transformative Learning (4)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/transformative-learning)
- [Virtual Worlds (17)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/virtual-worlds)
- [Workforce Development (1)](https://blog.performdev.com/topic/workforce-development)
### Follow Me
### Learn More
[ ](http://cta-service-cms2.hubspot.com/cs/c/?&cta_guid=7731f088-5ea4-47ef-9e5b-bd99bb24974b&placement_guid=0551a033-4f83-4874-89d4-46d1284dc355&portal_id=218299&redirect_url=Fv72fEaGiy86UcgEX7RZrw/Nvjj%2BD/4xvch9lK4UlUU7RJIU%2BKODMZNJgb7jjqb6LaI4vYMGHfFmJOmHF8ln%2BcWTE%2BZ/KR0hqAtwO7L%2BcB42yjX/p%2B07aiwCs826bzDx&iv=pziBy35B8JU%3D&hsutk=ac9460655b8a7ff7c5651977fa5b1751&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.performdev.com%2Fblog&canon=)
[HOME](http://www.performdev.com/)[INDUSTRIES SERVED](http://www.performdev.com/industries-served/)[BUSINESS ISSUES](http://www.performdev.com/business-issues/)[OUR CAPABILITIES](http://www.performdev.com/our-capabilities/)[OUR CLIENTS](http://www.performdev.com/clients/)[RESOURCES](http://www.performdev.com/resources/)[ABOUT PDG](http://www.performdev.com/about-pdg/)
[BLOG](https://blog.performdev.com)[CAREERS](http://www.performdev.com/careers/)[CONTACTS US](http://www.performdev.com/contact-us/)[SITE MAP](http://www.performdev.com/site-map/)[PRIVACY POLICY](http://www.performdev.com/privacy-policy/)
301 Lindenwood Drive
Suite 100
Malvern, PA 19355
Phone: 610.854.4400
Fax: 866.280.3646
Inquiries:[info@performdev.com](mailto:info@performdev.com)
Sales:[sales@performdev.com](mailto:sales@performdev.com)
© 2015 Performance Development Group