A promising road map for millennials

Hacks for life and career: A Millennial’s Guide to Making it Big

Author: Sandeep Das

Publisher: Sage Publications 

Pages: 312

Price: Rs 592

Over the last 15 years of my corporate experience, one of the themes that has always stood out in plain display around me is the sense of dissatisfaction and disconnect young professionals have with their employers and educational institutions. After having been on both sides of the table, I think there are multiple nuances to this deeply pressing issue. Corporations and educational institutions do not seem to have understood the millennial and Gen Z mindset while business school professors, in most cases, do not have industry experience and as a result, no contemporary examples. In addition, certain corporations have a “we know it all” mindset when it comes to the next generation and a lack of communication exists between the millennial generation and their predecessors. This leads to burnout, lack of engagement and loss of productivity.

This is where Sandeep Das makes a bold attempt with this book, Hacks for Life and Career: A Millennial’s Guide to Making it Big. He tries to identify the gaps in the millennial mind from employers and educational institutions and tries to bridge this gap in his unique entertaining style.

Based on interviews with millennials and chief experience officers (CXOs) and his own professional career, he has identified 20 key business concepts with real- world examples that everyone ought to know. I particularly liked the case study on pricing (Chapter 5: Pricing: What’s the Fuss About?) of a brand and its associated elasticity. It was simple, intuitive and mirrored the challenges we often see in the real world. Mr Das addresses complex financial topics with wit and charm. For instance, he uses the following question: “If you had to buy Apple today, how much money would you need?” to explain Enterprise Value. (Chapter 19: Enterprise Value: How much do I need to pay to take over Apple?)

Another aspect that is often a pain point with millennials is knowledge of personal finance. It is unfortunate that the Indian education ecosystem and corporations teach professionals how to make money for them but rarely teach professionals what to do with their own money. And given that money is the leading cause of stress for most professionals, it is a massive market gap. Mr Das simplifies various financial instruments, writes about their pros and cons and suggests a portfolio allocation that millennials can understand and maintain for themselves.

For professionals who are well read, the book will appeal to the historian in you. Mr Das clearly comes from the school of thought that history often repeats itself in spirit and if you must understand what lies ahead, you ought to understand what happened in the past. He meticulously covers the major financial crises over the last 100 years and an eerie pattern is indicated as a common thread among them.

Hacks for Life and Career touches on not only conventional corporate careers but on the entrepreneurial and the gig economy too. He cautions young professionals on being sensible about entrepreneurship, the checks to apply before they go all in and a step-by-step guide to get started once they have made up their mind. He touches upon his own journey in maintaining a side hustle and even takes a sarcastic take on social media wannabes. The chapter on “‘Following a True Calling, Not a Fake Hobby” is downright hilarious.

He does play to the gallery and highlights the role of the bad boss. In the chapter, “The Feku”, he recreates a comical but fairly accurate representation of the leader who is always trying to steal the limelight but often lacks capability. I sense this chapter will strongly resonate with many of his readers. What makes the book, which is an exhaustive read, entertaining and engrossing is Mr Das’ constant reference to pop culture icons. To explain Game Theory, for example, he brings up one of the famous scenes from an episode of the hit sitcom Suits, where the federal agencies are trying to turn an associate against the lead character, Mike Ross. Its memory lingers even when you have finished the book.

In conclusion, Mr Das tries to talk the talk and walk the walk on millennial matters. What struck me about the book was that it is millennial and Gen Z-centric with respect to their thinking and outlook to life. Written in byte-sized formats, contemporary English, and with limited jargon, the book will serve as an educational and a corporate guide besides being a great bedtime read.

Hacks for Life and Career is a great starting point to throw light on a promising future ahead. As a millennial, can you follow that path?

The reviewer is the APAC Marketing Director for Danaher Corporation’s Water Quality