Stop Fixing New Employees. Start Learning From Them.
People seem to be complaining about new employees these days, but very few people are actually addressing the real issue. You hear the same lines over and over: “Gen Z doesn’t want to work,” “New grads have no work ethic,” “Nobody wants to pay their dues.” I hear it in boardrooms, at conferences, on LinkedIn, and in casual conversations after work. The storyline is always the same: new people don’t get it, they’re not committed, and they don’t understand how things work.
But what if we’re asking the wrong question? Instead of wondering how to “fix” the next generation, what if we asked whether they’re even broken at all? The possibility no one considers is that new employees might not be missing something; rather, we might be missing what they bring. Instead of trying to shape them into workers from 1997, we might need to see them as what they actually are: a completely different type of talent built on a different operating system.
That shift requires us to stop judging and start translating.
From the Vessel Model to the Navigator Model
Most of us came up inside a very specific model of work: we were trained to be vessels. School filled us with content. Employers gave us direction. Our job was to execute, perform well, and wait for the next step. It worked because the world moved slowly, and the map stayed relatively stable. If you carried the right content in your vessel, you were valuable.
But vessels only work when the container—the workplace, the industry, the expectations—stays the same. When the environment shifts, vessels crack. They sit full of old knowledge, waiting for instructions that no longer exist.
Now think about the world we’re living in. AI is rewriting job descriptions every six months. Remote work dissolved the old belief that visibility equals commitment. Career paths look more like networks than ladders. The map isn’t just changing, it’s being redrawn in real time. In this world, vessels struggle.
Navigators thrive.
A navigator knows who they are. They can learn anything because they understand how they operate, not just what they know. They don’t wait for direction, they create it. They don’t passively adapt, they actively shape the environment around them. And here’s the surprising part: a lot of new employees already work this way. They just don’t look like the workers older generations are used to managing.
This is where the conflict begins.
Education Built Vessels. Work Now Requires Navigators.
Traditional education was designed around the vessel model: start with content, maybe address identity later; teach skills, then hope students eventually figure out how to apply them; produce people who know a lot but aren’t sure who they are or how they contribute. These people tend to wait for direction.
Cgility flips that completely. We start with identity and build skills around it. We teach navigation—how to learn, adapt, and move—before teaching content. People trained this way understand who they are and where they create value. They don’t wait for direction; they create it.
The problem is that most workplaces still operate like everyone was trained the old way. So when someone shows up already navigating, questioning the playbook, pushing for flexibility, wanting responsibility sooner rather than later, we label them as entitled. But maybe they’re just navigators operating inside a system built for vessels.
What This Looks Like in Real Workplaces
You can see it in everyday moments. A new employee challenges an outdated weekly meeting or suggests a tool no one has heard of. The default response is that they don’t respect the process. But what if they’re simply seeing inefficiencies we’ve normalized?
Or consider the junior team member who wants meaningful responsibility sooner than expected. Instead of assuming entitlement, what if we recognized that they understand their capabilities better than we do?
Or take the employee who leaves after 18 months to build a portfolio career. Maybe they’re not disloyal, maybe they’re navigating a landscape in which agility matters more than staying in one place forever.
The pattern is always the same: we judge navigators using vessel standards. And in the process, we miss out on the skills the modern workplace desperately needs: fresh perspective, adaptability, curiosity, and a willingness to question old maps.
How Leaders Can Shift Their Approach
So what do we actually do about it?
First, stop trying to fix them. They’re not broken. They’re operating within a different model, one that’s increasingly necessary as the pace of change accelerates.
Second, start with identity rather than content. Ask who they are, what they care about, and how they naturally operate. Then build skills and responsibilities around that foundation.
Third, give them problems to solve, not tasks to complete. Navigators thrive when they’re shaping the path, not following it.
Fourth, learn their language. They’re fluent in tools, platforms, and ways of working that didn’t exist five years ago. Instead of dismissing that, let them teach you.
Finally, measure impact: not activity. Vessels are judged by how full they are. Navigators are judged by where they can go.
The Opportunity Hiding in Plain Sight
The old model of work is fading, and the new one is already here. The employees leaders complain about most are often the ones pointing toward the future. Those who learn to lead navigators, rather than trying to reshape them into vessels, will have a massive advantage. Everyone else will keep venting at happy hour about “kids these days.”
The choice is simple. If you’re willing to stop fixing and start learning, you’ll find a tremendous amount of potential sitting right in front of you. You just have to be willing to see it.
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